Sounding Rocket - Wikipedia
Sounding Rocket - Wikipedia
Sounding Rocket - Wikipedia
Sounding rocket
(Redirected from Sounding rockets)
Etymology
The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary to sound, which is to throw a weighted line
from a ship into the water to measure the water's depth. The term itself has its etymological roots
in the Romance languages word for probe, of which there are nouns sonda and sonde and verbs
like sondear which means "to do a survey or a poll". Sounding in the rocket context is equivalent to
"taking a measurement".[7]
Design
The basic elements of a modern sounding rocket are a solid-fuel rocket motor and a science
payload.[7] In certain Sounding Rockets the payload may even be nothing more than a smoke trail
as in the Nike Smoke which is used to determine wind directions and strengths more accurately
than may be determined by weather balloons. Or a Sounding Rocket such as the Nike-Apache may
deposit sodium clouds to observe very high altitude winds. Larger, higher altitude rockets have
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 1/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
F4D and F-4 fighters were examples of air launched sounding rockets.
There were also examples of artillery launched sounding rockets including Project HARP's 5", 7",
and 15" guns, sometimes having additional Martlet rocket stages.[11]
Development history
The earliest Sounding Rockets were liquid propellant rockets such as the WAC Corporal, Aerobee,
and Viking. The German V-2 served both the US and the USSR's R-1 missile as sounding rockets
during the immediate Post World War II periods. During the 1950s and later the inexpensive
availability of surplus military boosters such as those used by the Nike, Talos, Terrier, and
Sparrow. Since the 1960s designed for the purpose rockets such as the Black Brant series have
dominated sounding rockets, though often having additional stages, many from military surplus.
The earliest attempts at developing Sounding Rockets were in the Soviet Union. While all of the
early rocket developers were concerned largely with developing the ability to launch rockets some
had the objective of investigating the stratosphere and beyond. The All-Union Conference on the
Study of Stratosphere was held in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1936. While the conference
primarily dealt with balloon Radiosondes, there was a small group of rocket developers who sought
to develop "recording rockets" to explore the stratosphere and beyond.[12] Amongst the speakers at
the conference was Sergey Korolev who later became the leading figure of the Soviet space
program.
Specifically interested in sounding rocket design were V. V. Razumov, of the Leningrad Group for
the Study of Jet Propulsion. A. I. Polyarny working in a special group within the Society for
Assistance to the Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction of the U.S.S.R in Moscow designed
the R-06 which eventually flew but not in the meteorological role.[12]
The early Soviet efforts to develop a sounding rocket were the earliest efforts to develop a sounding
rocket and ultimately failed before WWII.[12] P. I. Ivanov built a three-stage which flew in March
1946. At the end of summer 1946 development ended because it lacked sufficient thrust to loft a
sufficient research payload.[12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 2/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
The first successful sounding rocket was created at the California Institute of Technology, where
before World War II there was a group of rocket enthusiasts led by Frank Malina, under the aegis
of Theodore von Kármán, known amidst the people of the CIT as the "Suicide Squad." The
immediate goal of the Suicide Squad was exploring the upper atmosphere which required
developing the means of lofting instruments to high altitude and recovering the results. After the
start of WWII the CIT rocketry enthusiast found themselves involved in a number of defense
programs, one of which, deemed Corporal, was intended to produce a bombardment guided
missile the Corporal. Eventually known as the MGM-5 Corporal it became the first guided missile
deployed by the US Army.
During WWII the Signal Corps created a requirement for a sounding rocket to carry 25 pounds
(11 kg) of instruments to 100,000 feet (30 km) or higher.[13] To meet that goal Malina proposed a
small Liquid-propellant rocket to provide the GALCIT team necessary experience to aid in
developing the Corporal missile.[14][15] Malina with Tsien Hsue-shen (Qian Xuesen in Pinyin
transliteration), wrote "Flight analysis of a Sounding Rocket with Special Reference to Propulsion
by Successive Impulses." As the Signal Corps rocket was being developed for the Corporal project,
and lacked any guidance mechanism, it was Without Attitude Control. Thus it was named the WAC
Corporal. The WAC Corporal served as the foundation of Sounding Rocketry in the USA. WAC
Corporal was developed in two versions the second of which was much improved. After the war the
WAC Corporal was in competition for sounding mission funding with the much larger captured V-
2 rocket being tested by the U.S. Army. WAC Corporal was overshadowed at its job of cost-
effectively lifting pounds of experiments to altitude, thus it effectively became obsolescent. WAC
Corporals were later modified to become the upper stage of the first two staged rocket the RTV-G-4
Bumper.
Captured V-2s dominated American sounding rockets and other rocketry developments during the
late 1940s.[16] To meet the need for replacement a new sounding rocket was developed by the
Aerojet Corporation to meet a requirement of the Applied Physics Laboratory and the Naval
Research Laboratory. Over 1,000 Aerobees of various versions for varied customers were flow
between 1947 and 1985.[17]: 57 [18] One engine produced for the Aerobee ultimately powered the
second stage of the Vanguard (rocket), the first designed for the purpose Satellite Launch Vehicle,
Vanguard. The AJ10 engine used by many Aerobees eventually evolved into the AJ10-190 which
formed the Orbital Maneuvering System of the Space Shuttle.[19]
The Viking (rocket) was intended from the start by the Navy not only to be a sounding rocket
capable of replacing, even exceeding the V-2, but also to advance guided missile technology.[20]
The Viking was controlled by a multi-axis guidance system with gimbled Reaction Motors XLR10-
RM-2 engine. The Viking was developed through two major versions. After the United States
announced it intended to launch a satellite in the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) the
Viking was chosen as the first stage of the Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle. The last two Vikings
were fired as Vanguard Test Vehicle 1 and 2.[21]
During the post WWII era the USSR also pursued V-2 base sounding rockets. The last two R-1As
were flown in 1949 as sounding rockets. They were followed between July 1951 and June 1956 by 4
R-1B, 2 R-1V, 3 R-1D and 5 R-1Es, and 1 R-1E (A-1).[22] The improved V-2 descendant the R-2A
could reach 120 miles and were flown between April 1957 and May 1962.[23] Fifteen R-5Vs were
flown from June 1965 to October 1983. Two R-5 VAOs were flown in September 1964 and October
1965.[24] The first solid-fueled Soviet sounding rocket was the M-100.[25] Some 6640 M-100
sounding rockets were flown from 1957 to 1990.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 3/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
Other early users of Sounding Rockets were Britain, France and Japan.
Great Britain developed the Skylark (rocket) series and the later Skua for the International
Geophysical Year.[17]
France had begun the design of a Super V-2 but that program had been abandoned in the late
1940s due to the inability of France to manufacture all components necessary. Though
development of the Veronique (rocket) was began in 1949, it was not until 1952 that the first full
scale Veronique was launched. Veronique variants were flown until 1974.[17][26] The Monica
(rocket) family, an all solid fueled which was pursued in a number of versions and later replaced by
the ONERA. series of rockets.[17]
Japan was another early user with the Kappa (rocket). Japan also pursued Rockoons.[17]
The People's Republic of China was the last nation to launch a new liquid fueled sounding rocket,
the T-7.[27] It was first fired from a very primitive launch site, where the "command center" and
borrowed power generator were in a grass hut separated from the launcher by a small river. There
was no communications equipment- not even a telephone between the command post and the
rocket launcher. The T-7 led to the T-7M, T-7A, T-7A-S, T-7A-S2 and T-7/GF-01A. The T-7/ GF-
01A was used in 1969 to launch the FSW satellite technology development missions. Thus the I-7
led to the first Chinese satellite, the Dong Fang Hong 1 (The East is Red 1), launched by a DF-1.
Vital to the development of Chinese rocketry and the Dong Feng-1 was Qian Xuesen (Tsien Hsue-
shen in Wade Guiles transliteration) who with Theodore von Kármán and the California Institute
of Technology "Suicide Squad" created the first successful Sounding Rocket the WAC Corporal.
Advantages
Sounding rockets are advantageous for some research because of their low cost,[2] relatively short
lead time (sometimes less than six months)[7] and their ability to conduct research in areas
inaccessible to either balloons or satellites. They are also used as test beds for equipment that will
be used in more expensive and risky orbital spaceflight missions.[2] The smaller size of a sounding
rocket also makes launching from temporary sites possible, allowing field studies at remote
locations, and even in the middle of the ocean, if fired from a ship.[28]
Applications
Meteorology
Weather observations, up to an altitude of 75 km, are done with rocketsondes, a kind of
sounding rocket for atmospheric observations that consists of a rocket and radiosonde. The sonde
records data on temperature, moisture, wind speed and direction, wind shear, atmospheric
pressure, and air density during the flight. Position data (altitude and latitude/longitude) may also
be recorded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 4/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
Research
A Loki-Dart (foreground) on display
Sounding rockets are commonly used for:
at the White Sands Missile Range
rocket garden
Research in aeronomy, the study of the upper atmosphere,
which requires this tool for in situ measurements in the
upper atmosphere.
Ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy, which require being above the bulk of the Earth's atmosphere.
Microgravity research which benefits from a few minutes of weightlessness on rockets
launched to altitudes of a few hundred kilometers.
Remote sensing of Earth resources uses sounding rockets to get an essentially instant
synoptic view of the geographical area under observation.[29]
Dual use
Due to the high military relevance of ballistic missile technology, there has always been a close
relationship between sounding rockets and military missiles. It is a typical dual-use technology,
which can be used for both civil and military purposes.[30] During the Cold War, the Federal
Republic of Germany cooperated on this topic with countries that had not signed the Non-
Proliferation Treaty on Nuclear Weapons at that time, such as Brazil, Argentina and India. In the
course of investigations by the German peace movement, this cooperation was revealed by a group
of physicists in 1983.[31] The international discussion that was thus set in motion led to the
development of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) at the level of G7 states. Since
then, lists of technological equipment whose export is subject to strict controls have been drawn up
within the MTCR framework.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 5/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
Exela Space Industries is developing the Aims-1 sounding rocket that will launch to 100 km in
2035.
Evolution Space operates the Gold Chain Cowboy sounding rocket with launch to 124.5 km on
April 22, 2023.[36]
The Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) operates a Small Sounding Rocket Program
(SSRP) for launching payloads (mostly educational) to altitudes of about 7 km.
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) launched a Sounding Rocket (Vyom)
in May, 2012, which reached an altitude of 15 km. Vyom Mk-II is in its conceptual design stage
with an objective to reach 70 km altitude with 20 kg payload capacity.[37]
The University of Queensland operates Terrier-Orion sounding rockets (capable of reaching
altitudes in excess of 300 km) as part of their HyShot hypersonics research.
Iranian Space Agency operated its first sounding rocket in February 2007.
UP Aerospace operates the SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket that can reach altitudes of 225 km.
TEXUS and MiniTEXUS, German rocket programmes at Esrange for DLR and ESA
microgravity research programmes.
Astrium operates missions with sounding rockets on a commercial basis, as prime contractor to
ESA or the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
MASER, Swedish rocket programme at Esrange for ESA microgravity research programmes.
MAXUS, German-Swedish rocket programme at Esrange for ESA microgravity research
programmes.
Pakistan's SUPARCO launched Rehbar series of sounding rockets, based on American Nike-
Cajun series of rockets, from 1962 to 1971.
REXUS, German-Swedish rocket programme at Esrange for DLR and ESA student experiment
programmes.
The NASA Sounding Rocket Program.
The JAXA operates the sounding rockets S-Series: S-310 / S-520 / SS-520.
United States/New Zealand company Rocket Lab developed the highly adaptable Ātea series
of sounding rockets to carry 5–70 kg payloads to altitudes of 250 km or greater, launched once
on 30 November 2009.
The Meteor rockets were built in Poland between 1963 and 1974.
The Kartika I rocket was built and launched in Indonesia by LAPAN on 1964, becoming the
fourth sounding rocket in Asia, after those from Japan, China and Pakistan.
The Soviet Union developed an extensive program using rockets such as the M-100, the most
used ever; its successor by its successor state, Russia, is the MR-20 and later the MR-30.
Brazil has been launching its own sounding rockets since 1965. The largest and most current
family of rocket are the Sonda, which are the R&D basis for Brazil's soon-to-be-launched VLS
satellite launcher. Other rockets include the VSB-30
The Paulet I rocket was built and launched in Peru by The National Commission for Aerospace
Research and Development (CONIDA) on 2006, becoming the first sounding rocket of the
country and the third rocket in South America, after those from Brazil and Argentina.
The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) is a non-profit organization based in
the United States which has operated the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition
(IREC) since 2006.[38]
ONERA in France launched a sounding rocket named Titus, developed for observation of the
total solar eclipse in Argentina on November 12, 1966. Titus was a two-stage rocket with a
length of 11.5 m, a launch weight of 3.4 tons, and a diameter of 56 cm. It reached a maximum
height of 270 kilometers. It was launched twice in Las Palmas, Chaco during the eclipse, in
collaboration with the Argentine space agency CNIE.[39]
German Aerospace Center's Mobile Rocket Base (DLR MORABA) designs, builds and
operates a variety of sounding rocket types and custom vehicles in support for national and
international research programs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 6/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
See also
Aerobee Monica (rocket)
Arcon (rocket) MR-12
Astrobee MR-20
Bellier (rocket) Nike-Apache
Black Brant (rocket) Petrel (rocket)
Boosted Dart Project HARP
Castor Nike Boster based sounding rockets
Castor-Lance R-1 (missile)
Castor-Orbus R-2 (missile)
Castor-Star R-5 Pobeda
Centaure (rocket) Raven (rocket)
Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering Rocket Lab
Dragon (rocket) Sonda
Frank Malina Seliger Rocket
High Power Rocketry Sigma (rocket)
Hopi Dart Skua Rocket
Iris (rocket) Skylark (rocket)
Kappa (rocket) Sparoair
Kookaburra (rocket) Talos-Castor
Loki (rocket) V-2 sounding rocket
Mesquito Veronique (rocket)
M-100 (rocket) Viking (rocket)
MMR06 VS-30 family
Model rocket WAC Corporal
References
1. nasa.gov (https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code810/files/SRHB.pdf) NASA Sounding Rocket Program
Handbook, June 2005, p. 1
2. "NASA Sounding Rocket Program Overview" (https://rscience.gsfc.nasa.gov/srrov.html). NASA
Sounding Rocket Program. NASA. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
3. "High Altitude Sounding Rocket" (https://rscience.gsfc.nasa.gov/keydocs/HASR_Slides.pdf)
(PDF). NASA Sounding Rocket Program. NASA. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September
2024.
4. "Rope Trick effect" (https://nnss.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DOENV_1136-1.pdf) (PDF).
Wikipedia. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
5. "Rope Trick effect" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_trick_effect). Rapatronic Photography.
Navada National Security Site. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
6. "Sandia delivers first DOE sounding rocket program since 1990s" (https://newsreleases.sandia.
gov/sounding_rocket/). Rapatronic Photography. Sandia National Labrtories. 29 September
2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
7. Marconi, Elaine M. (12 April 2004). "What is a Sounding Rocket?" (https://www.nasa.gov/missi
ons/research/f_sounding.html). Research Aircraft. NASA. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
8. NASA Sounding Rocket Handbook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 7/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 8/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
External links
30 years of sounding rocket launches (http://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bullet88/peder88.htm)
at Esrange in Kiruna, Sweden
Amato, Ivan (2001). Pushing the Horizon. Seventy-Five Years of High Stakes Science and
Technology at the Naval Research Laboratory. Fort Belvoir, Virginia: Defense Technical
Information Center.
Sounding rockets launched from Andøya Space Center in Norway
Australian Space Research Institute Small Sounding Rocket Program (http://www.asri.org.au/S
SRP) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20081219230912/http://www.asri.org.au/SSRP)
2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
Bollermann, Bruce (1970). A Study of 30Km to 200Km Meteorological Rocket Sounding
Systems, Volume II. Literature and Data Review (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/197000206
46/downloads/19700020646.pdf) (PDF). George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama.
Retrieved 2024-08-28.
Hall, R. Cargiil (1969). Essays on the History of Rockerty and Astronautics: Proceedings of the
Third Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics, Volume II. Washington D.C.:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office.
Chertokt, Boris E. (2005-01-01). Rockets and People Volume I SP-2005-4110 (https://www.nas
a.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/635675main_rocketspeoplevolume1-ebook.pdf?emrc=3b9d
ce) (PDF). The NASA History Series. Washington D.C.l: National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
Chertokt, Boris E. (2006-06-01). Rockets and People Volume II Creating a Rocket Industry SP-
2006-4110 (https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sp-4110-vol2.pdf?emrc=82104f)
(PDF). The NASA History Series. Washington D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
Sounding rockets at EADS Astrium page (https://web.archive.org/web/20100715030227/http://
www.astrium.eads.net/en/prog/sounding-rockets.html)
Corliss, William R. (1971). NASA Sounding Rockets, 1958-1968 (https://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/
History/SP-4401/sp4401.htm). The NASA Historical Report Series. Washington D.C. Library of
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 9/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
Congress Catalog Number = 70-169175: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Retrieved 2024-08-24.
Cornell, Lloyd H. Jr, Editor, History of Rocketry and Astronautics AAS History Series, Number
15, American Astronautical Society, San Diego, California, 1993, INBN 0-87703-377-3
DeLuca, Luigi T. (2017-05-21). GALCIT Projects: The Birth of US Rocketry (https://www.resear
chgate.net/publication/317175795). Retrieved 2024-08-24.
DeVorkin, David H., Science With A Vengeance, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1992, ISBN 0-387-
94137-1
Dougherty, Kerrie (2006). Upper atmospheric research at Woomera: The Australian-built
sounding rockets. Australia: Powerhouse Museum.
Eckles, Jim (2013). Pocketful Of Rockets. Las Cruces, New Mexico: Fiddlebike Partnership.
ISBN 9781492773504.
Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) (http://www.soundingrocket.org/)*Fraser, L.
W.; Siegler, E. H. (1948). To High Altitude Research Using The V-2 Rocket (https://apps.dtic.mi
l/sti/pdfs/AD0636108.pdf) (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
Green, Constance; Lomask, Milton (1970). Vanguard - a History (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/
19710008544). Washington D.C.: NASA. NASA-SP-4202.
German, Swedish and EADS-ST Programmes (https://web.archive.org/web/20070323162515/
http://spaceflight.esa.int/users/index.cfm?act=default.page&level=11&page=1792)* ESA article
on sounding rockets (http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/docs/EUG2LGPr3/EUG2LGPr3-6-Sounding
Rockets.pdf)
Kennedy, Gregory P. (2009). The Rockets and Missiles of White Sands Proving Grounds 1945-
1958. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military History. ISBN 978-0-7643-3251-7.
Morrow, Richard B.; Pines, Mitchell S. (2000). Small Sounding Rockets. Searingtown, New
York: Small Rocket Press. ISBN 0-967-4106-0-6.
Murphy, C. H.; Bull, G. V. (1967-02-01). BRL Memorandum Report No. 1825 (https://apps.dtic.
mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0654123.pdf) (PDF). U.S. Army Material Command, Ballistic Research
Laboratories, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Defense Technical Information Center.
Retrieved 2024-09-07.
NASA Sounding Rocket Program (https://rscience.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html)
NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (https://web.archive.org/web/20000302115537/htt
p://www.nsroc.com/)
NASA Sounding Rockets, 1958–1968: A Historical Summary (NASA SP-4401, 1971) (https://hi
story.nasa.gov/SP-4401/sp4401.htm)
Newell, Homer E. Jr. Express to the Stars. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1961,
Library of Congress Card Number 61-16734.
Newell, Homer E. Jr. Sounding Rockets. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
1959,Library of Congress Card Number 59-13884.
Peraton, Inc (2023). NASA Sounding Rockets User Handbook (https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code8
10/files/SRHB.pdf) (PDF). Greenbelt, Maryland: National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA/TP-20230006855. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
Rosen, Milton W., The Viking Rocket Story, Harper & Brothers, New York, Library of Congress
Card Number 55-6592
Seibertt, Günther (2006). The History of Sounding Rockets and Their Contribution to European
Space Research. The Netherlands: ESA Publications Division. ISBN 92-9092-550-7.
Smith, Jr., Charles P., Pressly. Elanor C., 1958, Upper Atmosphere Research Report No. XXI
Summary of Upper Atmosphere Research Firings,
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADB957191.pdf, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington,
D.C.*Sounding Rocket Division (1971). The United States Sounding Rocket Program.
Greenbelt, Maryland: Godard Space Flight Center.
White, L.D., 1952, Final Report, Project Hermes V-2 Missile Program, General Electric
Company, Defense Products Group, Aeronauti and Ordnance Systems Division, Guided
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 10/11
11/21/24, 12:35 AM Sounding rocket - Wikipedia
Missile Dept Schenectady, NY, Call Number 39088014776371, lccn96036508, oclc
1045303092l, https://archive.org/details/finalreportproje00whi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket 11/11