Sparta (rocket)

Sparta
Function	Sounding rocket; Launch system
Manufacturer	ABMA/Chrysler
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	21.8 metres (72 ft)
Diameter	1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in)
Mass	30,000 kilograms (66,000 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	45 kilograms (99 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Redstone
Comparable	Jupiter-C; Juno I
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Woomera Test Range LA-8
Total launches	10
Success(es)	9
Failure(s)	1
First flight	28 November 1966
Last flight	29 November 1967
Type of passengers/cargo	Re-entry vehicles, WRESAT
First stage – Redstone
Powered by	1 A-7
Maximum thrust	416 kilonewtons (94,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	265 sec
Burn time	155 seconds
Propellant	LOX/Ethanol
Second stage – Antares-2
Powered by	1 X-259
Maximum thrust	93 kilonewtons (21,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	293 sec
Burn time	36 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Third stage – BE-3 Alcyone
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	34 kilonewtons (7,600 lbf)
Burn time	9 seconds
Propellant	Solid
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Sparta (or Redstone Sparta) was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Sparta used surplus American Redstone rockets as its first stage, a Thiokol Antares 2 from Scout rocket as a second stage, and a WRE BE-3 Alcyone solid-propellant engine as a third stage.^[2]^[3]

A first stage was recovered from the Simpson Desert in 1990 after being found in searches by explorer Dick Smith the previous year.^[4]^: 76–80

Launches

Several Spartas were launched between 1966 and 1967 from Woomera Test Range LA8 in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the US donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit.^[5]^[2]^[3]

The first launch was a failure, while the rest were successful.^[3]

Sparta launches^[2]^[3]
Date	Mission Description	Nation	Agency	Apogee (km)
1966 Nov 28	Sparta SV-1 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	90
1966 Dec 13	Sparta SV-2 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	90
1967 Apr 20	Sparta SV-3 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	90
1967 Jul 4	Sparta SV-4 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	90
1967 Jul 24	Sparta SV-5 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	90
1967 Aug 17	Sparta SV-6 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	90
1967 Sep 15	Sparta SV-7 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	91
1967 Oct 11	Sparta SV-8 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	137
1967 Oct 31	Sparta SV-9 (re-entry vehicle)	US	US Army	111
1967 Nov 29	WRESAT (satellite)	Australia	WRE	1252

Gallery

Redstone-Sparta at Woomera LA8
Preparation for launch of Redstone-Sparta CC-2029 at Woomera LA8
Preparation for launch of Redstone-Sparta CC-2029 at Woomera LA8
Launch of Redstone-Sparta CC-2029 with WRESAT satellite (November 29, 1967)
Launch of Redstone-Sparta CC-2029 with WRESAT satellite (November 29, 1967)

References

^ Wade, Mark. "Redstone". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wade, Mark. "SPARTA". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Krebs, Gunter D. "Redstone with solid fuel upper stage". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2023-12-09. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
^ Dougherty, Kerrie. "Retrieving Woomera's heritage: recovering lost examples of the material culture of Australian space activities" (PDF). Artefacts: Studies in the History of Science and Technology. Vol. 6. p. 80. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
^ LePage, Andrew J. (May 2, 2011). "Old Reliable: The story of the Redstone". spacereview.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.

This rocketry article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Wade, Mark. "Redstone". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07.

[:0-2] Wade, Mark. "SPARTA". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2023-10-16.

[:1-3] Krebs, Gunter D. "Redstone with solid fuel upper stage". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2023-12-09. Retrieved 2023-10-21.

[4] Dougherty, Kerrie. "Retrieving Woomera's heritage: recovering lost examples of the material culture of Australian space activities" (PDF). Artefacts: Studies in the History of Science and Technology. Vol. 6. p. 80. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2024-04-24.

[5] LePage, Andrew J. (May 2, 2011). "Old Reliable: The story of the Redstone". spacereview.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)