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	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
Successes	9
Failures	1
First flight	28 November 1966
Last flight	29 November 1967
Notable payloads	WRESAT
First stage - Redstone
Engines	1 A-7
Thrust	416 kilonewtons (94,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	265 sec
Burn time	155 seconds
Fuel	LOX/Hydyne
Second stage - Antares-2
Engines	1 X-259
Thrust	93 kilonewtons (21,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	293 sec
Burn time	36 seconds
Fuel	Solid
Third stage - BE-3
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	34
Burn time	9 seconds
Fuel	Solid

The Sparta was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967.

Sparta on the pad at Woomera

Sparta used a surplus American Redstone as its first stage, an Antares-2 as a second stage, and a BE-3 as a third stage. Several Spartas were launched from 1966–67 from Woomera Test Range in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the U.S. donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit.