Antares (sounding rocket)

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Antares is the name of a four-stage French rocket for re-entry tests into the earth's atmosphere . The Antares missile was developed by ONERA under the designation OPd-56-39-22D . It was 12.10 meters long and 0.56 meters in diameter. The takeoff mass was 1785 kg.

The first three stages of the types Vesuve , Neptune and Mimosa brought the missile to an altitude of 150 km. The fourth stage, Melanie, accelerated the payload back towards Earth, reaching Mach 7 . Between May 1959 and March 1961, twelve take-offs took place from the Ile du Levant , the first seven of them under the designation OPd-56-39-22D, the others as Antares .

A final start was carried out on May 13, 1961 by the Center interarmées d'essais d'engins spéciaux in Algeria. The fourth step was directed upwards so that a height of 280 km was reached.

The Antares was replaced by the larger Berenice , which was in service from 1962 to 1966.

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