Lightning rod tower

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Atlas V 551 on Launch Pad 41, surrounded by lightning rod towers

A lightning rod tower is usually a steel frame construction that serves as a lightning rod . It must be significantly higher than the object to be protected from the lightning strike.

Lightning rod towers are erected on some launch ramps , where the supply tower, which can take over the lightning protection , is driven away in the last phase of the countdown , so that in the event of a thunderstorm there is a likelihood of a lightning strike in the rocket with the risk of damage to the on-board electronics. One example is the approx. 200 meter high towers at the launch pad of Ariane 5 in Kourou , French Guiana.

Individual evidence

  1. Lightning Protection for the Next Generation Spacecraft NASA on May 12, 2007