Berenice
Launch vehicle · France
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Berenice was Onera's successor to the Antares re-entry vehicle test booster. It was nearly double the mass of Antares.
The first two stages lofted the vehicle to a 270 km altitude. The expended second stage, stabilized by an aerodynamic fins remained attached to the upper stages until an altitude of 55 km was reached. Then the second stage was jettisoned, the third stage fired, and the test RV was accelerated to a speed of Mach 12 at 20 km altitude. The 4 stage vehicle consisting of 4 x SEPR P167(4 X 34 kN) stabilization rockets around + 1 x Stromboli SEPR 739 + 1 x SEPR 740 + 1 x Tramontane + 1 x Melanie
Payload: 40 kg (88 lb) to a 1000 km altitude.
Subtopics
- Berenice Satmos French orbital launch vehicle. In April 1963, ONERA proposed using a modified Berenice suborbital test vehicle to place a small 3.5 kg satellite ('Satmos') into a 250 x 1800 km orbit. They claimed this booster could be ready in 1964, one year before Diamant. However the given the marginal growth potential of such a design, the government decided to stick with Diamant.
Titus Sounding rocket derived from the first two stages of the Berenice test vehicle. The two stage vehicle consisted of 4 x SEPR P167 stabilization rockets around a Stromboli 739 first stage, topped by a stretched Stromboli SEPR 740-3 second stage with four fins. The launches were made from Chaco in collaboration with the Argentinian agency CNIE.- Tibere Tibere was an atmospheric re-entry test vehicle derived from the earlier Berenice. Development was authorized in 1965 to support the Electre re-entry experiment program. The first two stages were Stromboli motors of identical length. The third stage was the P.064 motor developed for the Diamant orbital launcher.
Related
- Country
- France
- Launch Sites
- Ile du Levant
- Stages
- SEPR 740, Tramontane, Melanie, SEPR P167, Stromboli
- Agency
- ONERA