Sparta (rocket)

{{Infobox Rocket

|image = upright=0.5

|caption =

|name = Sparta

|function = Sounding rocket
Launch system

|manufacturer = ABMA/Chrysler

|country-origin = United States

|height = {{convert|21.8|m}}

|diameter = {{convert|1.78|m}}

|mass = {{convert|30000|kg}}

|stages = 3

|capacities =

{{Infobox Rocket/Payload

|location = LEO

|kilos = {{convert|45|kg}}

}}

|family = Redstone

|comparable = Jupiter-C
Juno I

|status = Retired

|sites = Woomera Test Range LA-8

|launches = 10

|success = 9

|fail = 1

|first = 28 November 1966

|last = 29 November 1967

|payloads = Re-entry vehicles, WRESAT

|stagedata =

{{Infobox Rocket/Stage

|type = stage

|stageno = First

|name = Redstone

|engines = 1 A-7

|thrust = {{convert|416|kN|lbf}}

|SI = 265 sec

|burntime = 155 seconds

|fuel = LOX/Ethanol

}}

{{Infobox Rocket/Stage

|type = stage

|stageno = Second

|name = Antares-2

|engines = 1 X-259

|thrust = {{convert|93|kN|lbf}}

|SI = 293 sec

|burntime = 36 seconds

|fuel = Solid

}}

{{Infobox Rocket/Stage

|type = stage

|stageno = Third

|name = BE-3 Alcyone

|engines = 1 solid

|thrust = {{convert|34|kN|lbf}}

|burntime = 9 seconds

|fuel = Solid

}}

}}

The Sparta (or Redstone Sparta) was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967.{{cite web |last=Wade |first=Mark |title=Redstone |url=http://astronautix.com/r/redstone.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207065553/http://www.astronautix.com/r/redstone.html |archive-date=2024-02-07 |access-date= |website=Encyclopedia Astronautica |publisher= |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Wade |first=Mark |title=SPARTA |url=http://www.astronautix.com/s/sparta.html |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Encyclopedia Astronautica |archive-date=2022-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109060720/http://www.astronautix.com/s/sparta.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Krebs |first=Gunter D. |title=Redstone with solid fuel upper stage |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/redstone_sd.htm |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en |archive-date=2023-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209140340/https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/redstone_sd.htm |url-status=live }}

Sparta used surplus American Redstone rockets as its first stage, a Thiokol Antares 2 from Scout rocket as a second stage, and a WRE BE-3 Alcyone solid-propellant engine as a third stage.{{Cite web |title=Antares 2 |url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/antares2.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.astronautix.com}}

A first stage was recovered from the Simpson Desert in 1990 after being found in searches by explorer Dick Smith the previous year.{{Cite news |last=Dougherty |first=Kerrie |title=Retrieving Woomera's heritage: recovering lost examples of the material culture of Australian space activities |volume=6 |pages=80 |work=Artefacts: Studies in the History of Science and Technology |url=https://www.artefactsconsortium.org/Publications/PDFfiles/Vol6Space/6.04.Space-Dougherty,Woomera75ppiWEBF.pdf |access-date=2024-04-24 |archive-date=2023-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011025449/https://www.artefactsconsortium.org/Publications/PDFfiles/Vol6Space/6.04.Space-Dougherty,Woomera75ppiWEBF.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{rp|76–80}}{{clear left}}