Back Спарта (ракета) Bulgarian Sparta (Rakete) German Redstone Sparta French Sparta (razzo) Italian スパルタ (ロケット) Japanese Sparta (rakieta) Polish Sparta (foguete) Portuguese Спарта (ракета-носитель) Russian 斯巴達運載火箭 Chinese
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| 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 |
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][4]
A first stage was recovered from the Simpson Desert in 1990 after being found in searches by explorer Dick Smith the previous year.[5]: 76–80
- ^ Wade, Mark. "Redstone". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07.
- ^ a b Wade, Mark. "SPARTA". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Antares 2". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
- ^ 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.