The Lebanese space program was not initially an official government-sponsored effort. Rather, it revolved around the Lebanese Rocket Society which emerged from the

Haigazian College Haigazian University (; , pronounced ''Haygazyan Hamalsaran'') is a higher education institution founded in 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon as Haigazian College. For a brief period starting 1992, the name was changed to Haigazian University College befo ...

Rocket Society, and was founded by

Manoug Manougian Manoug Manougian (April 29, 1935 – May 7, 2024) was an Armenian scientist and academic who was considered to be the father of the Lebanese space program. Manougian was born on April 29, 1935, in Jerusalem. He died on March 27, 2024, in Tampa, ...

in 1960. The original society gained fame in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

after a series of successful launches of Cedar rockets and in 1962 President

Fouad Chehab Fouad Abdallah Chehab ( / ; 19 March 1902 – 25 April 1973) was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as president of Lebanon from 1958 to 1964. He is considered to be the founder of the Lebanese Army after Lebanon gained independence fr ...

announced limited governmental funding for the renamed Lebanese Rocket Society which was also contacted by the Lebanese military to develop weapons.

Lebanese Rocket Society

The Lebanese Rocket Society which was led by

consisted of a small group of students from the Haigazian University. The society developed into the wider Lebanese space program and it produced the first rockets of the

Arab World The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

, which were capable of suborbital flight. Cedar 3 rocket

In November 1960, a group of Haigazian College students got together under the guidance of

(a Mathematics and Physics instructor) to form the Haigazian College Rocket Society (HCRS). With an initial budget of 750 Lebanese pounds donated by the late MP Emile Bustani, the members of the HCRS set out to prepare single and multistage

solid fuel Solid fuel refers to various forms of solid material that can be burnt to release energy, providing heat and light through the process of combustion. Solid fuels can be contrasted with liquid fuels and gaseous fuels. Common examples of solid fu ...

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

s. Aspects of the first single-stage rocket were assigned to each student. As a result of the lack of required equipment, the group was obliged to resort to flight testing without any fuel tests in the laboratories. After a number of failures, the project was finally successful. In April 1961, a single-stage solid propellant rocket was launched and reached an altitude of about one kilometer. With further improvements of the solid fuel system, a similar rocket called HCRS-3 was launched up to 2 km. Cedar 3 rocket launch

The Lebanese President,

, as a result of these experiments, granted financial assistance for the project (10 thousand LL for 1961 and 15 thousand LL for 1962). During the academic year 1961–1962, the society worked on two-stage rockets with further improvements of the separation system, solid fuel system, and vehicle design. On May 25, 1962, HCRS-7 Cedar was Launched up to 11.5 km, and the

Lebanese Army The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; ), also known as the Lebanese Army (), is the national military of the Republic of Lebanon. It consists of three branches, the ground forces, the air force, and the navy. The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is ...

was responsible for the security of the launch. In the summer of 1962, two more rockets, Cedar llB and Cedar llC, were launched to a distance of 20 km. New members joined and a new group was formed in 1962, it was called the Lebanese Rocket Society (LRS). Cedar 4 rocket

The LRS was directed by a main committee of six members. Further tests were planned on design and construction of multistage rockets. On November 21, 1962, Cedar-3, a three stages solid propellant rocket prepared by the Haigazian group was launched. It had a length of 6.80 m and weight of 1250 kg. Cedar 4 rocket launch

After several other launchings, an accident occurred during the summer of 1964, which hospitalized 2 students who recovered. However, the launch was ended. In 1963, a Cedar IV rocket was launched and reached altitude, putting it close to the altitude of satellites in

Low Earth Orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

. The rocket was later commemorated on a stamp. The final launch by the Lebanon Rocket Society was in 1966.

In popular culture

A reproduction of a 1964 postage stamp was produced by the Lebanese postal service to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the Lebanese Independence. Depicted is one of Haigazian College's Cedar rockets. The society and wider Lebanese space programme is the focus of a 2012 film called '' The Lebanese Rocket Society''.

References

{{Use American English, date=January 2014 Space programs by country Science and technology in Lebanon