Skip to content
79,433 pages · 13,741 images · since 1994 Browse A–Z Today in space history
Encyclopedia Astronautica The full story of spaceflight
Encyclopedia entry

Nike Improved Orion

Launch vehicle · USA

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

American sounding rocket.

2 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x Nike + 1 x Improved Orion.

Country
USA
Launch Sites
Kiruna, Kiruna MRL
Agency
Raytheon

Chronology

26 events

1992 August 18

09:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Test flight - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 92 km (57 mi). First Nike Improved Orion flight..

1993 November 29

09:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mini-Texus 1 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 146 km (90 mi).

1994 May 3

07:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mini-Texus 2 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 139 km (86 mi).

1995 April 29

05:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mini-Texus 4 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 149 km (92 mi).

1995 May 2

05:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mini-Texus 3 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 125 km (77 mi).

1998 January 26

12:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • SSC MERMAID Microgravity / education mission - . Nation: Europe. Agency: DLR, SSC. Apogee: 132 km (82 mi).

1998 February 11

09:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mini-Texus 5 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 140 km (80 mi).

1998 March 3

22:33 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • SSC NLTE-1 Atomic 2A Ionosphere mission - . Nation: Sweden. Agency: SSC. Apogee: 134 km (83 mi).

1998 March 6

21:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • SSC NLTE-2 Atomic 2B Ionosphere mission - . Nation: Sweden. Agency: SSC. Apogee: 134 km (83 mi).

1998 December 3

11:04 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mini-Texus 6 Microgravity mission - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 140 km (80 mi).

2003 November 28

12:05 GMT - . Launch Site: SvalRak. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion. FAILURE: Failure.
  • ICI-1 Plasma mission - . Nation: Norway. Agency: NDRE. Apogee: 12 km (7 mi).

2005 January 20

16:00 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.

2006 September 9

22:17 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • ECOMA 1 Meteors / dust mission - . Nation: Norway. Agency: ARR, DLR. Apogee: 130 km (80 mi).

2006 September 17

21:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • ECOMA 2 Meteors / dust mission - . Nation: Norway. Agency: ARR, DLR. Apogee: 129 km (80 mi).

2007 August 3

23:22 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • ECOMA 3 Meteors / dust mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: ARR, DLR. Apogee: 127 km (78 mi).

2008 June 30

Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.

2008 July 7

21:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.

2008 July 12

10:46 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.

2008 October 22

12:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • REXUS 4 - . Nation: Sweden. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 175 km (108 mi).

2009 May 22

10:32 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • MAPHEUS - . Nation: Sweden. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 140 km (80 mi). Micrograv.

2010 October 27

10:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • Mapheus-2 - . Nation: Germany. Agency: DLR. Apogee: 153 km (95 mi). Microgravity payload..

2010 December 4

04:21 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • ECOMA 7 - . Nation: Germany, Norway. Apogee: 135 km (83 mi). Meteor dust payload..

2010 December 13

03:24 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • ECOMA 8 - . Nation: Germany, Norway. Apogee: 138 km (85 mi). Meteor dust payload..

2010 December 19

02:36 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • ECOMA 9 - . Nation: Germany, Norway. Apogee: 135 km (83 mi). Meteor dust payload..

2011 July 21

07:01 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. Launch Complex: KirunA MRL. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • SSC PHOCUS - . Nation: Sweden. Agency: SSC. Apogee: 107 km (66 mi).

2012 November 25

11:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Nike Improved Orion.
  • MAPHEUS-3 - . Nation: Sweden. Apogee: 145 km (90 mi). Microgravity experiments. Final Nike Improved Orion flight..