Monica is the designation of a small French
sounding rocket. It was intended as a cheaper counterpart to the relatively expensive
Veronique rockets. It was built in several versions, which were between 3.05 and 6.27 m long and had a takeoff weight between 62 and 154 kg. Monica was a 3-stage rocket, with all stages burning solid fuel. The first stage delivered 450
daN (decanewtons) for 3 seconds and the two upper stages deliver 50 daN for 15 and 5.5 seconds, respectively. It was launched several times between 1955 and 1962 at the
CIEES launch site in
Hammaguir
Hammaguir (also written Hamaguir and Hammaguira) ( ar, حماقير) is a village in Abadla District, Béchar Province, Algeria, south-west of Béchar. It lies on the N50 national highway between Béchar and Tindouf. The location is notable for ...
,
French Algeria
French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...
, and the
Ile de Levant site in France. The Monica design process encountered a number of difficulties, leading to many failed tests and the early cancellation of the program in 1962. However, elements of its design were later incorporated into more successful
ONERA
The Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) is the French national aerospace research centre. It is a public establishment with industrial and commercial operations, and carries out application-oriented research to supp ...
test vehicles.
References
Sounding rockets of France
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