Jabiru (rocket)

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The Jabiru was a three-stage British - Australian rocket built in several versions for the research of supersonic aerodynamics. It was developed and tested in cooperation with the British Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) and the aerodynamics department of the Australian Weapons Research Establishment (WRE). Jabiru was originally just the Australian name for the rocket. The originally British name Jaguar caused confusion with the American rocket of the same name and with the Grumman XF10F Jaguar fighter aircraft and was soon no longer used.

  • The first stage of the Jabiru Mk.1 was 5.6 m long and had a takeoff weight of 1,170 kg, of which 866 kg were fuel . The second stage weighed 292 kg, 184 kg of which was fuel. The third stage contained 26 kg of fuel. Solid fuel was used in all stages . The complete rocket was 12 m long. The Jabiru Mk.1 was launched several times by Woomera ( Australia ) between 1960 and 1964 .
  • The successor version Jabiru Mk.2 contained an improved starting stage and a second stage (307 kg) as well as a third stage with 190 kg of fuel. The Jabiru Mk.2 was launched ten times by Woomera between 1964 and 1970.
  • It was replaced by the Jabiru Mk.3 . This used a modified first stage of the Jabiru Mk.2 as the second stage while the first stage remained unchanged. No third tier was used. The Jabiru Mk.3 was used for re-entry experiments between 1971 and 1974.

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