The Centre d'Essais des Landes is a launch site for the test of military rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

s and for launching sounding rockets in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The Centre d'Essais des Landes is situated between Biscarrosse

Biscarrosse

Biscarrosse is a commune in the Landes department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It is located southwest of Bordeaux, and inland from the seaside resort of Biscarrosse-Plage on the Atlantic coast....

 and the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 at 44°27′N 1°15′W. The Centre d'Essais des Landes went in service in 1967 as replacement for the former launch sites at Hammaguir

Hammaguir

Hammaguir is a town in Algeria, south-west of Béchar. Between 1947 and 1967 there was a rocket launch site near Hammaguir, used by France for launching sounding rockets and the satellite carrier "Diamant" between 1965 and 1967....

.

The most important launch pad of the Centre d'Essais des Landes is the Base Lancement Balistique at 44.3620°N 1.2500°W, from which most medium-range rockets were launched.

External links

• Description of the launch site (in French
  French language
  French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
  
  )
• Satellite picture