A rockoon (from ''

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 ...

'' and ''

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

'') is a

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...

that, rather than being lit immediately while still on the ground, is first carried into the

upper atmosphere Upper atmosphere is a collective term that refers to various layers of the atmosphere of the Earth above the troposphere and corresponding regions of the atmospheres of other planets, and includes: * The mesosphere, which on Earth lies between th ...

by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and ignited. This allows the rocket to achieve a higher altitude, as the rocket does not have to move under power through the lower and thicker layers of the atmosphere. A 2016 study by '' Acta Astronautica'' concluded that low-mass and high altitude launches give the best results. The original concept was developed by Cmdr. Lee Lewis, Cmdr. G. Halvorson, S. F. Singer, and James A. Van Allen during the

Aerobee The Aerobee rocket was one of the United States' most produced and productive sounding rockets. Developed by the Aerojet Corporation, the Aerobee was designed to combine the altitude and launching capability of the V-2 with the cost effectiven ...

rocket firing cruise of the U.S.S. ''Norton Sound'' on March 1, 1949. A serious disadvantage is that unpiloted balloons cannot be steered, and consequently the location from which the rocket is launched can be uncertain. Therefore, a large area for the fall of the rocket is required for safety reasons. The rockoons that Robert Ellis worked with cost around a tenth the cost of rockets.

Early atmospheric research

''Time'' magazine reported in 1959: "Van Allen's 'Rockoons' could not be fired in Iowa for fear that the spent rockets would strike an Iowan or his house." Van Allen convinced the U.S. Coast Guard to let him fire his rockoons from the icebreaker ''Eastwind'' that was bound for

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. "The first balloon rose properly to 70,000 ft. [], but the rocket hanging under it did not fire. The second Rockoon behaved in the same maddening way. On the theory that extreme cold at high altitude might have stopped the clockwork supposed to ignite the rockets, Van Allen heated cans of orange juice, snuggled them into the third Rockoon's gondola and wrapped the whole business in insulation. The rocket fired." Rockoon Van Allen

The

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

(USA ONR) used the

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

in some of its Rockoon launches, lofting the Loki to high altitudes on a helium balloon before firing, for upper atmosphere research. The first Rockoon launch of the Loki I occurred on Jul 1 1955 from shipboard off the coast of Greenland. During July–October 1955 instrumented Loki I and

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

rockets were successfully balloon launched (Rockoons) from shipboard off the coast of

in cosmic-ray studies by The University of Iowa research group. Army Ordnance supplied JPL-developed Loki rockets and ONR sponsored the project. The first attempt of the Deacon Rockoon on Aug 21 1952 06:25 GMT from the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

80.1 N x 68.5 W was a failure. However, success came on Aug 9 1953 in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, Launch Site 11 Launch Point 10 74.38 N x 71.93 W, at 05:54 GMT. This was quickly followed by another success on Aug 30 1953 20:46 GMT, at Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11 Launch Point 13 53.13 N, 54.75 W. In September 1957, as part of the U.S. contributions for the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

, thirty-six rockoons were launched from Navy icebreaker in Atlantic, Pacific, and Antarctic areas ranging from 75° N. to 72° S. latitude, as part of the scientific program headed by Van Allen together with Lawrence J. Cahill of the University of Iowa. These were the first known upper atmosphere rocket soundings in the Antarctic area. Launched from IGY Rockoon Launch Site 2, Atlantic Ocean; Latitude: 0.83° N, Longitude: 0.99° W.

Recent usage

More recently, the

JP Aerospace JP Aerospace is an American company that aims to achieve affordable access to space. Their main activities include high-atmospheric lighter-than-air flights carrying cameras or miniature experiments called PongSats and minicubes. They are also en ...

company has developed and used rockoons as part of its space access plans. Additionally,

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

, the

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises eight colleges: arts, humanities ...

, and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

(Purdue Orbital) have started programs to develop rockoons and significant work has been recently done by Leo Aerospace based in Los Angeles and a Romanian space company,

ARCASPACE Romanian Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Association (), also known as ARCAspace, is an aerospace company based in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania. It builds rockets, high-altitude balloons, and UAV, unmanned aerial vehicles. It was founded in 1999 as a ...

. The Spanish company Zero2infinity plans to launch a toroid shaped rocket from a balloon called Bloostar in 2018 to carry micro satellites to low Earth orbit. UK base company, B2Space is developing the concept to launch small satellites into low Earth orbit. The American company Deimos-One is developing an AI assisted concept to launch rockets and carry satellites to low Earth orbit. The University of Washington investigated Rockoon launches between 2006 and 2014.

References

Sources

* *

External links

{{wiktionary, rockoon
Details of Rockoon launches made in 1956 from the USS COLONIAL in the Pacific Ocean
Stratocat website

Stratocat website * ttp://www.harcspace.com/ High Altitude Research Corporation 1953 in spaceflight Rocket propulsion Spaceflight

Early atmospheric research

Recent usage

See also

References

Sources

External links