Saphir
Saphir
Credit - via Jean-Jacques Serra
Sounding rocket. Year: 1965. Family: Precious stone. Country: France. Manufacturer's Designation: VE231.

Saphir was the penultimate step in the 'precious stones' series. The variants of the two-stage vehicle were designed to allow testing of radio-controlled guidance (VE231P), inertial guidance (VE231G), and warhead separation and re-entry of an ablative RV (VE231R). Addition of a third stage would transform Saphir into the Diamant satellite launcher.

Manufacturer: SEREB. Launches: 15. Failures: 2. Success Rate: 86.67%. First Launch Date: 1965-07-05. Last Launch Date: 1967-01-27. Launch data is: complete. Payload: 365 kg (804 lb). Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 280.000 kN (62,940 lbf). Total Mass: 18,058 kg (39,811 lb). Core Diameter: 1.40 m (4.50 ft). Total Length: 17.77 m (58.30 ft).

Saphir Chronology

1965 July 5 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 P1.

  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 1818.
1965 July 10 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 P2. FAILURE: Stage seperation failure.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). References: 1818.
1965 October 9 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 P3.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,150 km (710 mi). References: 1818.
1966 March 13 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 G1.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 1818.
1966 March 18 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 G2.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: CNES. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 1818.
1966 March 28 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 R2.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 1818.
1966 April 5 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 R1.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 1818.
1966 June 23 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 R4.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
1966 October 5 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 R3.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
1966 October 28 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 G3.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
1966 November 2 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 G4.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
1966 December 2 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 R5. FAILURE: Stage seperation failure.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). References: 572.
1966 December 13 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 R6.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
1967 January 19 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 G5.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
1967 January 27 - Launch Site: Hammaguira. Launch Complex: Brigitte. Launch Vehicle: Saphir. Model: Saphir VE231. LV Configuration: Saphir VE231 G6.
  • Re-entry Vehicle Test mission Nation: France. Agency: ONERA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). References: 572.
Bibliography and Further Reading
  • McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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