The History of Sounding Rockets and Their Contribution to ... - ESA

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Annual launches of ESRO sounding rockets and their success rates were published by ESA in ESA BR-60
(by D. Eaton) in 1989 (see Table 5-2):
Table 5-2. ESRO sounding-rocket launches by year
Year No. of launches Success rates in %
1964 3 100%
1965 8 38%
1966 27 52%
1967 18 67%
1968 20 80%
1969 26 77%
1970 26 85%
1971 43 86%*
1972 12 93%
* Excluding the 15 standard meteorology soundings.
By far the largest numbers of ESRO sounding rockets were launched from Esrange near Kiruna (Sweden)
and from the Salto di Quirra range on Sardinia. A large proportion of the rockets launched from Sardinia
were equipped with Sun- or star-pointing facilities. In addition, the range in Sardinia was used for mid-latitude
atmospheric studies. The ranges on the Ile de Levant and on the Island of Karystos (Greece) were used
for special campaigns (e.g. solar eclipses), whereas Andøya, the rocket range in Norway, was used for large
rockets such as Dragon, which could not be launched from Esrange. The Woomera range in Australia was
used for launches of star-pointing rockets designed to observe the southern sky.
Transport of a Centaure sounding rocket to the launch site at Karystos in Greece in May 1966 and the
subsequent launch