- Castor-Orbus
The Castor-Orbus was a Castor 4
sounding rocket (research rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its flight) that was developed in 1992 by theOrbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) (USA ). Launched three times in its five year-long career from 1992 to 1997, the Castor-Orbus rocket launched successfully only once, giving it a success rate of 33.33%. It was first launched onOctober 16 ,1992 , while its final launch took place onOctober 4 ,1997 .There were two Castor-Orbus models made, Castor-Orbus and Castor-Orbus 1.
Advanced details
Weighing 13.5
ton s (13,500kilogram s), the Castor-Orbus had a lift-off thrust of approximately 430kilonewton s (equivalent to around 96,660lbf ). The rocket had a core diameter measuring 1.02metre s (3.34 feet), with a total length of exactly 16 metres (52 ft). It had anapsis (apogee) of over 500kilometre s (310mile s). The family of the Castor-Orbus rocket was Castor 4, which was partially responsible for the Castor-Orbus naming.Career
The Castor-Orbus rocket was launched three times over almost five years. After the launch of
October 4 ,1997 , the Castor-Orbus was dropped from service.*The first launch of the Castor-Orbus took place on
October 16 ,1992 at around 6:30 am. The location of the launch wasWake Island , in the NorthPacific Ocean . This launch proved to be a failure.
*The second launch took place almost five years later, onFebruary 10 ,1997 at theNevada Test Site , inNevada , USA. This launch would prove to be the first and last successful launch of the Castor-Orbis.
*The final launch of the Castor-Orbus was not successful. It took place onOctober 4 ,1997 , at the Nevada Test Site.See also
*
List of rockets References
* [http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/casorbus.htm Encyclopedia Astronautica]
* [http://planet4589.org/space/space.html McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Home Page", Harvard University, 1997-present]
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