| Astris | |||||||||||
| Manufacturer: | ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH | ||||||||||
| Country: | Germany | ||||||||||
| Rockets: | Europa 1 third stage. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 3.36m (11.02feet) | ||||||||||
| Diameter: | 2m (07feet) | ||||||||||
| Mass: | 3370kg (7,430lb) | ||||||||||
| Propmass: | 2760kg (6,090lb) | ||||||||||
| Empty: | 610kg (1,350lb) | ||||||||||
| Status: | Retired | ||||||||||
| Launches: | 4 | ||||||||||
| Success: | 0 | ||||||||||
| Fail: | 4 | ||||||||||
| Noburn: | 0 | ||||||||||
| First: | 1969-07-31 | ||||||||||
| Last: | 1971-11-05 | ||||||||||
| Stagedata: |
| ||||||||||
The Astris was an upper stage developed by ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH and MBB as the third stage of the Europa 1 launch vehicle.[1] [2] [3] It was the German contribution to the project and only flew activated four times. The high failure rate of the three and four stage rocket meant that the project was cancelled.[4] [5]
On November 29, 1968, its inaugural flight, the Astris third stage exploded.[6] On the second attempt on July 1969, the Astris engine failed to start. On the third attempt on June 11, 1970, the stage performed correctly, but the fairing failed to separate.[7]
On November 5, 1971, the Europa II launched from CSG ELA-1, had a mishap due to structural failure of the third stage.[8] After this last failure the project was definitely cancelled.[9]
The stage measured 3.36 m with a diameter of 2 m, and had an empty mass of 610 kg. Propellant (N2O4/Aerozine-50) mass was 2760 kg, and the single Astris engine produced 23.3 kN of thrust.