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Europe's first space launcher. The first stage was a British Blue Streak IRBM, the second stage the French Coralie, and the third stage the German Astris. All orbital launch attempts failed due to unreliability of the third stage. The project was cancelled after withdrawal of British support and replaced by the Ariane. The first pan-European attempt to develop its own launch vehicle capability was done under the auspices of ELDO - the European Launcher Development Organisation. The already-developed but-cancelled British MRBM, the Blue Streak, would be the first stage. France would develop the second stage, Germany the third stage, Italy the nose fairing, and Holland and Belgium tracking systems. Non-European Australia was allowed to be a member in exchange for use of the Blue Streak launch facilities at Woomera. The plan was for the Europa launcher to be tested in three phases:
In the event, after the three Blue Streak-only tests, the rest of the project was a disaster. While the Blue Streak remained reliable, the second or third stage failed on every subsequent test. A fourth Phase 2 launch was made in order to compensate for the failures. The final attempt, using a four-stage Europa-II configuration, brought the curtain down on the program. The British government had lost interest in the project, and the unaugmented Blue Streak offered limited possibilities for vehicle growth. With British interest waning, the launch site had already been moved to French Guiana. After some death throes, the British virtually abandoned spaceflight work, and ELDO was folded. The French led a new pan-European project to develop the very successful Ariane commercial launch vehicle. Manufacturer: ELDO. Launches: 11. Failures: 8. Success Rate: 27.27%. First Launch Date: 1966-05-23. Last Launch Date: 1971-11-05. Launch data is: complete. LEO Payload: 200 kg (440 lb). Payload: 200 kg (440 lb). to a: geosynchronous orbital trajectory. Associated Spacecraft: STV, STV 4. Liftoff Thrust: 1,500.000 kN (337,200 lbf). Total Mass: 104,670 kg (230,750 lb). Core Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft). Total Length: 33.00 m (108.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 17.000 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
Cora.
Cora was an experimental rocket to test the second and third stages of the Europa launch vehicle. Launchings of the test vehicle were carried out under the auspices of ELDO (European Launcher Development Organization). The Cora 1 version used only the French Coralie stage, while the Cora 2 version added the German Astris stage. The Italian Europa nose fairing was also tested. For these tests the Coralie exist nozzle was shortened to allow sea-level operation and four fins were added for stability. In the event, only the Cora 1 version was tested, and this failed on two out of three attempts. It was unfortunate that the test series could not be completely carried out, since later tests of the all-up Europa booster had a string of failures due to upper-stage problems, dooming the entire programme. Launches: 3. Failures: 2. First Launch Date: 1966-11-27. Last Launch Date: 1967-10-25. Apogee: 55 km (34 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 220.000 kN (49,450 lbf). Total Mass: 16,500 kg (36,300 lb). Core Diameter: 2.01 m (6.59 ft). Total Length: 11.50 m (37.70 ft).
ELDO A.
Three stage version of the Europa vehicle.
Launches: 2. First Launch Date: 1966-05-23. Last Launch Date: 1966-11-14. LEO Payload: 200 kg (440 lb). Liftoff Thrust: 1,000.000 kN (224,800 lbf). Total Mass: 104,600 kg (230,600 lb). Core Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft). Total Length: 31.70 m (104.00 ft).
Europa II.
Four stage version of the Europa vehicle, adding a P068 fourth stage.
Launches: 1. Failures: 1. First Launch Date: 1971-11-05. Last Launch Date: 1971-11-05. LEO Payload: 1,160 kg (2,550 lb). Payload: 360 kg (790 lb). to a: geosynchronous transfer orbit trajectory. Apogee: 40,000 km (24,000 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 1,512.000 kN (339,911 lbf). Total Mass: 111,700 kg (246,200 lb). Core Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft). Total Length: 31.70 m (104.00 ft).
Europa Chronology 1961 January 30 - Europa conference. Conference of 12 European nations held at Strasbourg to discuss a British and French proposal for a European satellite launcher development program. 1961 November 3 - Woomera -. Woomera selected for Europa launches. Nine-nation Western European Conference in London announced decision to launch a satellite in mid-1965, using a British Blue Streak first stage, a French Veronique second stage, and a West German third stage, from the Woomera range in Australia. 1966 May 23 - 23:36 GMT - Woomera LA6A. ELDO A F-4 Active first stage with dummy upper stages and satellite. and satellite. Flight terminated after 136 seconds. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 86 km (53 mi). 1966 November 14 - 20:38 GMT - Woomera LA6A. ELDO A F-5 Active first stage with dummy upper stages and satellite. Flight successful. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 120 km (70 mi). 1966 November 27 - Hammaguira Beatrice. Cora G1 FAILURE: Failure. Test mission Agency: CNES. Apogee: 10 km (6 mi). 1966 December 18 - 09:15 GMT - Hammaguira Beatrice. Cora G2 Agency: CNES. Apogee: 55 km (34 mi). Only completely successful test. 1967 August 4 - 03:53 GMT - Woomera LA6A. Europa I F-6/1 FAILURE: Failure. Active first and second stages with dummy third stage and satellite. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 180 km (110 mi). 1967 October 25 - Biscarosse -. Cora G3 FAILURE: Failure. Test mission Agency: CNES. Apogee: 10 km (6 mi). 1967 December 4 - 21:01 GMT - Woomera LA6A. Europa I F-6/2 FAILURE: Failure. Active first and second stages with dummy third stage and satellite. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). 1968 November 29 - 23:12 GMT - Woomera LA6A. Europa I F-7 FAILURE: Third stage exploded. STV 1 / Europa F-7 Mass: 249 kg (548 lb). Spacecraft: STV. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 230 km (140 mi). First attempt by ELDO to launch a satellite to orbit. Satellite Test Vehicle payload. 1969 July 2 - 22:55 GMT - Woomera LA6A. Europa I F-8 FAILURE: Third stage failed. Europa F-8 / STV 2 Spacecraft: STV. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). 1970 June 12 - 01:10 GMT - Woomera LA6A. Europa I F-9 FAILURE: Payload fairing failed to separate. Europa F-9 / STV 3 Spacecraft: STV. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 2,000 km (1,200 mi). 1971 November 5 - 13:00 GMT - Kourou ELA1. Europa II F-11 FAILURE: Structural failure of third stage. Guidance signals were reversed. Europa F-11 / STV 4 Spacecraft: STV 4. Agency: ELDO. Apogee: 27 km (16 mi). Bibliography:
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