Europa (rocket)
Europa II rocket
|
|
| Function | Orbital carrier rocket |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | ELDO |
| Country of origin | Europe |
| Size | |
| Height | 33 m |
| Diameter | 3.05 m |
| Mass | 104,670 kg |
| Stages | 3 - 4 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to GTO |
Europa I: 200 kg Europa II: 360 kg |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | LA-6, Woomera CECLES, CSG (Kourou) |
| Total launches | 11 5 Blue Streak 2 Blue Streak/Coralie 3 Europa I 1 Europa II |
| Successes | 4 4 Blue Streak |
| Failures | 7 1 Blue Streak 2 Blue Streak/Coralie 3 Europa I 1 Europa II |
| First flight | Blue Streak: 4 June 1964 Coralie: 4 August 1967 Europa I: 29 November 1968 Europa II: 5 November 1971 |
| Last flight | Blue Streak: 14 November 1966 Coralie: 4 December 1967 Europa I: 12 November 1970 Europa II: 5 November 1971 |
| First stage - Blue Streak | |
| Engines | 2 RZ.2 |
| Thrust | 170,565 kgf (1.67267 MN) |
| Specific impulse | 282 s |
| Burn time | 156 seconds |
| Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
| Second stage (Optional) - Coralie (rocket) | |
| Engines | 4 LRBA Vexin-A |
| Thrust | 28,000 kgf |
| Specific impulse | 277 s |
| Burn time | 96 seconds |
| Fuel | UDMH/N2O4 |
| Third stage - Astris (rocket) | |
| Engines | 1 Astris |
| Thrust | 2,380 kgf (23.3 kN) |
| Specific impulse | 310 sec |
| Burn time | 330 seconds |
| Fuel | N2O4/Aerozine 50 |
| Fourth stage - P068 (Europa II) | |
| Engines | 1 Solid |
| Thrust | TBC |
| Burn time | TBC |
| Fuel | Solid |
The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which was the precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA). It was developed with the aim to delivering space access technology, and more specifically to facilitate the deployment of European-wide telecommunication and meteorological satellites into orbit.
The Blue Streak missile had predated the Europa programme, having originally been development by Britain and having been envisioned to be employed primarily for military purposes, however it was cancelled in 1960. Efforts to repurpose the Blue Streak, such as the studied Black Prince expendable launch system, eventually cumulated in the multinational Europa programme. Workshare on the programme was shared between the various members of the ELDO based upon their financial contributions. The Europa launcher itself primarily consisted of the Blue Streak, Coralie, and Astris rocket stages.
The programme proceeded to perform multiple test launches, however these frequently resulted in partial failures. In addition, Britain decided to pull out of the ELDO organisation, and thus Europa, to instead focus on the rival British Black Arrow launcher instead. This led to the replacement of the Blue Streak by the French-built Diamant section. However, confidence in the programme had diminished due to the poor reliability figures, and this led to its termination. While Europa was ultimately cancelled, the ambition for such a launcher was still present and supported by the majority of ELDO members and, following its reformation into the ESA in 1974, the agency proceeded to develop the Ariane family of launchers, would which prove to be a commercial success with hundreds of launches performed.
During the early 1950s, the British government had identified the need to develop its own series of ballistic missiles due to advances being made in this field, particularly by the Soviet Union and the United States. A British programme to develop such a missile, named Blue Streak, was promptly initiated; however, there were key questions over the then-relatively unknown scenario of what such a vehicle would encounter when attempting re-entry to the atmosphere, there were fears that such a vehicle might simply burn up like a meteor and therefore be unachievable. Accordingly, during 1955, the Black Knight research rocket programme was commenced for this purpose. Following several launches, the Black Knight became to be regarded as a successful programme, having produced a relatively low cost and reliable rocket, and thus there was impetus present to proceed with further development of the platform.
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Wikipedia