The VS-30 is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

-Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian 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...

, derived from the Sonda 3 sounding rocket's first stage. It consists of a single, solid-fuelled

Solid rocket

A solid rocket or a solid-fuel rocket is a rocket engine that uses solid propellants . The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used by the Chinese in warfare as early as the 13th century and later by the Mongols, Arabs, and Indians.All rockets used some form of...

 stage, and has been launched from Alcântara, Maranhão

Maranhão

Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...

, and Parnamirim

Parnamirim

Parnamirim is a city in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is located at around . Augusto Severo International Airport, the airport serving the city of Natal, is located there....

, Rio Grande do Norte

Rio Grande do Norte

Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its geographic position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal...

, in Brazil, and Andøya

Andøya Rocket Range

Andøya Rocket Range is a rocket launch site and rocket range on Andøya island in Andøy municipality in northern Norway...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

It has been launched both on its own, or in the VS-30/Orion configuration, with an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Orion

Orion (US rocket)

Orion is the designation of a small American elevator research rocket. The Orion has a length of 5.60 meters, a diameter of 0.35 m, a launch weight of 400 kg, a launch thrust of 7 kN and a ceiling of 85 kilometers...

 upper stage. On its own, it can reach an apogee of 140 kilometres, and with an Orion upper stage, it can reach an apogee of 434 kilometres. The VS-30 is also used as the upper stage of the VSB-30

VSB-30

VSB-30 - "Veículo de Sondagem Booster – 30" is the designation of a Brazilian sounding rocket, which replaced the Skylark rocket at Esrange....

rocket.

Flights

• VS-30 XV-01 - "DLR AL-VS30-223 test" - 1997 April 28 - Apogee: 128 km
• VS-30 XV-02 -"DLR AL-VS30-226 Aeronomy mission" - 1997 October 12 - Apogee: 120 km
• VS-30 XV-03 -"DLR AL-VS30-229 Aeronomy mission" - 1998 January 31 - Apogee: 120 km
• VS-30 XV-04 -"Operacao San Marcos Microgravity mission" - 1999 March 15 - Apogee: 128 km
• VS-30 XV-05 -"Lençois Maranhenses Microgravity mission" - 2000 February 6 - Apogee: 148 km
• VS-30 XV-06 -"Cuma Microgravity mission" - 2002 December 1 - Apogee: 145 km
• VS-30 XV-07 -"Angicos GPS technology mission" - 2007 December 16 - Apogee: 120 km

Characteristics

• Length (mm) 7428
• Payload Mass (kg) 260
• Diameter (mm) 557
• Total takeoff mass (kg) 1460
• Apogee (km) 160