Castor 4A
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American sounding rocket. Vehicle consisting 1 x Castor + 1 x Orbus 1, sometimes augmented with a Recruit booster stage.
Subtopics
- Castor 4B American single stage sounding rocket. Single stage vehicle. First launch 1996.07.15.
- Castor-4B M-57A American all solid propellant suborbital launch vehicle.
- Castor-Orbus 1 American sounding missile. 2 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x Castor 4A + 1 x Orbus 1
Maxus The MAXUS microgravity program was a collaboration between Sweden and Germany. The single-stage vehicle developed for the program used a Castor 4B motor, the largest fired from Western Europe.- MRT American target vehicle. Orbital Sciences designates its version using the Castor-4B motor as the Medium-Range Target.
- Prospector sounding rocket American sounding rocket. Single stage vehicle.
Related
- Country
- USA
- Launch Sites
- Wake Island, Nevada Test Site, Nevada Test Site Area 26
- Stages
- 1.5KS35000, Castor 1, Orbus 1
Chronology
29 events
1991 May 8
03:54 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus. FAILURE: Failed..- Microgravity mission - .
Nation: Sweden.
Agency: SSC.
Apogee: 157 km (97 mi).
Microgravity experiments. Recovered, although it reached only a fraction of the planned altitude. The MAXUS sounding rocket program began in 1989 and the first launch took place in 1991.The program was a joint venture between the Swedish Space Corporation and the German space company EADS-ST. The Maxus program was financed by ESA. The scientific objective was to perform experiments during 12-13 minutes of microgravity (10-4 g) using a single stage sounding rocket motor. The motor, a Castor 4B, had a maximum acceleration of 13 g, a top speed of 3500 m/sec and reached an apogee of around 750 km depending on the payload mass.
1991 June 18
11:34 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC20. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Prospector sounding rocket. FAILURE: Failure..- Microgravity mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: OSC. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). Material and biological experiments..
1992 October 16
Launch Site: Wake Island. Launch Vehicle: Castor 4A. FAILURE: Failure.1992 November 8
10:25 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.- Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR, SSC. Apogee: 717 km (445 mi). Microgravity experiments. Relaunch of the Maxu 1 mission..
1995 November 28
09:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.1996 July 15
18:21 GMT - . Launch Site: Wake Island. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Castor 4B.1997 February 22
Launch Site: Wake Island. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Castor 4B.1997 March 1
Launch Site: Wake Island. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Castor 4B.1998 November 24
09:53 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.2001 April 29
11:28 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.2003 April 1
06:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.- Maxus 5 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Europe. Agency: ESA, SSC. Apogee: 701 km (435 mi). Suborbital microgravity payload. Launch delayed from 31 March..
2004 November 22
08:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.2005 April 8
17:30 GMT - . Launch Pad: Pacific Ocean, 22.0 N x 175.0 W. Launch Platform: C-17. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2005 August 4
Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Castor 4B.2005 August 18
Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Castor 4B.2005 November 18
18:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2006 May 2
06:16 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.- Maxus 7 - .
Nation: Europe.
Agency: ESA,
SSC.
Apogee: 702 km (436 mi).
Suborbital microgravity mission. Kaiser-Threde developed a new payload service system for MAXUS 7, providing 2 independent TV-links with 2 high power HF transmitters and GPS. The recovery system was a BAL ORSA system, modified by Kaiser-Threde, including parachute from DLR.
2006 June 22
22:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2007 June 23
02:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2007 November 15
Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2007 December 17
22:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2008 June 26
02:16 GMT - . Launch Pad: Pacific Ocean, 22 N x 175 W. Launch Platform: C-17. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2008 October 30
Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2009 October 28
04:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.2010 March 26
13:43 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.- SSC MAXUS 8 - . Nation: Sweden. Apogee: 700 km (430 mi). Microgravity payload.
2010 October 29
03:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.- MRT-9 - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM Target. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). ABM target. Successful intercept..
2012 June 27
09:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: MRT.- FTM-18 Target - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM Target. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Target mission..
2017 April 7
09:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.- MAXUS 9 - . Apogee: 678 km (421 mi). Microgravity mission. Impacted ESRANGE B zone..
2017 April 7
09:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Castor 4A. Launch Vehicle: Maxus.- MAXUS 9 - . Nation: Sweden. Apogee: 678 km (421 mi). Microgravity mission. Impacted in ESRANGE B zone..