Véronique was a French liquid-fuelled sounding rocket of the 1950s. It was the first liquid-fuel research rocket in Western Europe. Véronique was a French-led project that had its roots in the German

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...

, and was partially developed by German scientists who had worked in

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, en, " Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The commu ...

. It was a successor to the cancelled Super V-2, the Véronique was built between 1950 and 1969 in several versions, of which the versions P2, P6 and R were only experimental models. They were made in

Vernon, Eure Vernon (; nrf, Vernoun) is a commune in the French department of Eure, administrative region of Normandy, northern France. It lies on the banks of the river Seine, about midway between Paris and Rouen. Vernon–Giverny station has rail connec ...

. The name Veronique is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsDiamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...

launcher.

History

Background

In the immediate aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, various nations were keen to incorporate recent military advances into their own armed forces; the newly liberated nation of France was no exception. Akin to the American's

Operation Paperclip Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War ...

, France recruited various scientists and skilled personnel from the former

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

countries, particularly those with knowledge of advanced

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

technologies. Amongst these were in excess of 30 staff that had formerly worked at

, the hub of the

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

rocket programme that produced the

.Reuter 2000, p. 179. During mid-1946, France embarked on development of a V-2 derivative, popularly referred to as the Super V-2. This programme involved two distinct phases, the first being the establishment of appropriate facilities to produce V-2 components – this was partially achieved via the acquisition of most of the components for roughly 30 V-2s, either from

subcontractor A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract. Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...

s in France or sourced from the French zone of occupation in Germany.

Survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

s for a suitable launch facility in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

were also conducted, opting for a site near Colomb-Bechar. However, major problems with the Super V-2 programme had become clear by early 1947.Reuter 2000, pp. 179–180. France's allies were unwilling to supply V-2 components, yet establishing a completely independent production of all components in France was estimated to take at least five years, by which point the Super V-2 was believed to be have already become obsolete. Thus, it was decided that two separate programmes would be pursued; in addition to work on the Super V-2, a purely French derivative, initially referred to as ''project 4212'', would be designed by a separate team.Reuter 2000, p. 180. During 1948, the Super V-2 project was abandoned in favour other efforts, cumulating in ''project 4213'', a one-tenth scale rocket that was given the name ''Veronique'', a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsReuter 2000, pp. 180–181. During March 1949, work formally commenced on Veronique.Reuter 2000, p. 181. The project had the primarily objective of delivering a flight test vehicle for liquid rocket engine development; a secondary purpose was the launching of scientific payloads at high altitudes. Principal responsibility for manufacturing was held by the Laboratoire de recherches balistiques et aérodynamiques (LRBA).

Into flight

Partial system tests were conducted as early as 1951. However, it was not until May 1952 that the first full-scale ''Véronique-N'' (''Véronique Normal'') was launched. It was powered by a single liquid-fuelled

rocket motor A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordan ...

that weighed four tonnes; its fuel was a combination of

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

and

nitric acid Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...

. Veronique employed a unique wire-guidance system that used four 55 m cables attached to its fins immediately upon launch. Initially, the rocket motor suffered from combustion instability, which became a leading cause of early launch failures; furthermore, the maximum altitude of 65 km was found to be insufficient for many scientific purposes. Accordingly, it was decided to undertake a lengthy development programme throughout the 1950s which produced numerous other models were produced for specific purposes. The ''Véronique AGL'' was developed as a sounding rocket, a total of 15 such rockets were constructed using

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

provided by the French National Defense Scientific Action Committee. This model was largely similar to the Véronique-N, had had a reduced empty weight, and a simplified engine that used

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a spec ...

fuel in place of kerosene. A lengthened model, the ''Véronique NA'', enabled an altitude of 135 km to be reached; it also features a modified engine injector that had greater stability. A pair of ''Véronique P2'' test vehicles were produced to experiment with the wire-guidance system. The definitive version was the ''Veronique-61'', which featured substantial improvements such as a 50% increase in thrust. It was a far larger rocket, capable of carrying a 60 kg payload to an altitude of 315 km. A lengthened version, the ''Veronique-61M'', was also produced, suitable for carrying payloads of up to 100 kg. On 8 June 1964, the first was launched; the last Veronique-61 was launched on 31 May 1974. Of the 21 launches performed, 20 were considered to be failures to varying degrees.Reuter 2000, pp. 181–182. Amongst the tests in aid of scientific research that were conducted using the rocket were a series of biological experiments involving live animals.Burgess and Dubbs 2007, pp. 220–222. On account of the available payload capacity and thrust output available via Véronique, the use of larger animals was not possible, thus rats and

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s were used; these were carried within a sealed container within the rocket's nose cone which was designed to be retrievable and for the return of its occupant alive. One consequence of these flights was the only recorded launch of a cat into space.Burgess and Dubbs 2007, pp. 222–228. By 1965, the Véronique had begun to be eclipsed by a newer rocket, which was also entirely indigenously designed, the

Diamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...

expendable launch system.Reuter 2000, p. 182.

References

Citations

Bibliography