Meteor (rocket)
Encyclopedia
Meteor is a designation of a series of Polish
sounding rocket
s.
The Meteor rockets were built between 1963 and 1974.
The Meteor 1 and Meteor 2H were single-stage rockets. The Meteor 2K (the largest civilian rocket developed in Poland) was a two-stage rocket. The Meteor 3 was a two-stage rocket, compound from two Meteor 1 rockets.
Meteor rockets were launched from Łeba and Ustka
. Five Meteor rockets were launched around 1970 from Zingst
in former Eastern Germany. The programme was abandoned by a Soviet order, as the USSR wanted to maintain its monopoly on the rocket industry.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
sounding rocket
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
s.
The Meteor rockets were built between 1963 and 1974.
The Meteor 1 and Meteor 2H were single-stage rockets. The Meteor 2K (the largest civilian rocket developed in Poland) was a two-stage rocket. The Meteor 3 was a two-stage rocket, compound from two Meteor 1 rockets.
Meteor 1 | Meteor 2H | Meteor 2K | Meteor 3 | |
maximum altitude | 40 km | 68 km | 90 km | 65 km |
takeoff thrust | 14 kN | 24 kN | 52 kN | 14 kN |
diameter | 12 cm | 35 cm | 35 cm | 12 cm |
length | 2.5 m | 4.5 m | 4.3 m | 4.3 m |
The maximum altitude for Meteor 2K is 100 km in non-official flight | ||||
Meteor rockets were launched from Łeba and Ustka
Ustka
Ustka is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northwestern Poland with 17,100 inhabitants . It is also part of Słupsk County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in Słupsk Voivodeship .- History :...
. Five Meteor rockets were launched around 1970 from Zingst
Zingst
Zingst Peninsula is the easternmost portion of the three-part Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula, located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany between the cities Rostock and Stralsund on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The area is part of the Pomeranian coast...
in former Eastern Germany. The programme was abandoned by a Soviet order, as the USSR wanted to maintain its monopoly on the rocket industry.
Launch Log
An incomplete list of Meteor launchesNumber | Date | Launch site | Maximum altitude (kilometres) | Rocket type | Remarks |
1 | 1963 | Leba | 36 | Meteor 1 | Test flight |
2 | April 1965 | Leba | 36 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
3 | June 15th, 1965 | Leba | ? | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
4 | June 15th, 1965 | Leba | ? | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
5 | June 16th, 1965 | Leba | 36 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
6 | April 5th, 1967 | Leba | 36 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
7 | April 5th, 1967 | Leba | ? | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
8 | May 13th, 1967 | Leba | 36 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
9 | 1968 | Leba | 68 | Meteor 2H | Test flight |
10 | 1968? | Leba | 68 | Meteor 2H | Test flight |
11 | October 1968 | Leba | 65 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
12 | 1969? | Leba | 68 | Meteor 2H | Aeronomy mission |
13 | 1969? | Leba | 68 | Meteor 2H | Aeronomy mission |
14 | 1969? | Leba | 68 | Meteor 2H | Aeronomy mission |
15 | October 3rd, 1969 | Leba | 48 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
16 | October 3rd, 1969 | Leba | 49 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
17 | October 3rd, 1969 | Leba | 45 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
18 | 1970? | Leba | 68 | Meteor 2H | Test flight |
19 | July 10th, 1970 | Leba | 85 | Meteor 2K | Aeronomy mission |
20 | July 10th, 1970 | Leba | 90 | Meteor 2K | Test flight |
21 | August 22nd, 1970 | Leba | 57 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
22 | September 2nd, 1970 | Leba | 63 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
23 | September 7th, 1970 | Leba | 62 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
24 | September 9th, 1970 | Leba | 61 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
25 | October 7th, 1970 | Leba | 75 | Meteor 2K | Aeronomy mission |
26 | October 7th, 1970 | Leba | 89 | Meteor 2K | Aeronomy mission |
27 | June 11th, 1973 | Leba | 22 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
28 | June 12th, 1973 | Leba | 23 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
29 | June 14th, 1973 | Leba | 40 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
30 | June 15th, 1973 | Leba | 22 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
31 | June 15th, 1973 | Leba | 40 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
32 | September 15th, 1973 | Leba | 36 | Meteor 1 | Aeronomy mission |
33 | September 16th, 1973 | Leba | 44 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
34 | September 17th, 1973 | Leba | 45 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
35 | September 18th, 1973 | Leba | 44 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
36 | June 6th, 1974 | Leba | 65 | Meteor 3 | Aeronomy mission |
External links
- http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/meteor.htm
- http://www.rocketservices.co.uk/spacelists/sounding_rockets/decades/1965-1969.htm
- http://www.rocketservices.co.uk/spacelists/sounding_rockets/decades/1970-1974.htm