REXUS 2 - The first Eurolaunch Project

Kurzfassung

Sounding rocket and balloon launches have been conducted since more than 30 years at Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), ESRANGE. MORABA, the Mobile Rocket Base of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), has planned and performed sounding rocket and balloon launches throughout the world since the late sixties. With the creation of EuroLaunch, the long-lasting co-operation of the two complementary technical centres ESRANGE and MORABA is being enhanced and intensified. The REXUS 2 student rocket was the first project to be designed, built and launched under the EuroLaunch cooperation. A driving force in research by means of sounding rockets, has been the German Aerospace Center, which through its Mobile Rocket Base team, has conducted launches and operations all over the world. The Swedish Space Corporation and the German Aerospace Center have now entered into a deeper relationship by establishing a joint co-operation called EuroLaunch. On December 8th, 2003, a co-operation agreement was signed at ESRANGE. The agreement will strengthen the long-lasting and ongoing relationship between SSC and DLR within the area of sub-orbital services for upper atmosphere and microgravity research as well as future fields of research interest. EuroLaunch is currently involved in several projects which aim at strengthening the co-operation and also providing new possibilities to the scientific communities. The first EuroLaunch project was the REXUS 2 student rocket, which was successfully launched on October 28th, 2004 at ESRANGE. Within the REXUS 2 project the flexible work sharing of EuroLaunch has been put to its first test, as personnel from the two organisations have supported each other during heavy workload periods.