 One of the first Orion rockets (HAWK at the time) shortly after launch. | |
| Function | sounding rocket[1] |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | NASA |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Size | |
| Height | 5.60 m |
| Diameter | 0.35 m |
| Mass |
|
| Stages | 1 |
| Launch history | |
| Launch sites | Wallops, White Sands, Poker Flat, Andoya, Esrange, Barreira do Inferno |
| First stage | |
| Thrust | 7 kN |
Orion is the designation of a small Americansounding 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. The Orion, built byNASA Goddard Space Flight Center'sWallops Flight Facility, is also used as an upper stage of sounding rockets, usually paired with aTerrier missile as the first stage,[2][3][4] althoughNike,Taurus andVS-30 rockets are also used.[5]
Two Orion versions exist:[5]
The sounding rocket is launched from Wallops Flight Facility,White Sands,Poker Flat Rocket Range,Andoya Rocket Range,Esrange andBarreira do Inferno.[2][6][5]
A lightning storm over the Wallops launch pad on 9 June 1987 ignited a NASA Orion rocket and 2 other sounding rockets. The Orion flew horizontally about 300 feet into the ocean. The sounding rockets rose to around 15,000 feet altitude, then fell about 2 miles from the launch pad. No persons were hurt in the incident.[7]
Non-military suborbital rocket engines and motors that have flown | ||
|---|---|---|
| Liquid fuel engines |  | |
| Hybrid propellant engines | ||
| Solid propellant motors | ||
| Related articles | ||
 | This rocketry article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |