Diamant
France's first satellite launcher and precursor to European space efforts.
The Diamant rocket, named after the French word for diamond, was France's first indigenous expendable launch system and the first satellite launcher developed outside the United States or the Soviet Union. It is regarded as a key predecessor for later European launcher projects. The project was led by Charley Attali, who received the Legion of Honour in 1965 for his work on Diamant.
Quick Facts
- Function
- Small launch vehicle
- Manufacturer
- SEREB
- Country-origin
- France
- Diameter
- 1.34 m / 4 ft 5 in
- Mass
- 18,400 kg / 40,565 lb
- Stages
- 3
- Sites
- A: Hammaguir, B/BP4: Guiana
- First
- A: 26 November 1965
- B: 10 March 1970
- BP4: 6 February 1975
Facts from the source article.
Development
In the late 1940s and 1950s, international interest in rocketry and ballistic missiles grew, driven by the United States and the Soviet Union in a competitive space race. Other nations, including the United Kingdom and France, also pursued this technology, often building on knowledge from the German V2 programme. France established the Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aérodynamiques at Vernon in 1949 to develop military ballistic missiles. Early work included the Veronique liquid-fuelled rocket, based on the V2 and developed with German scientists; it first flew in 1954. Encouraged by progress, the Comité d'Action Scientifique de Défense Nationale decided in 1957 to fund further refinements of the Veronique.
Variants
The Diamant A was the first version, operational from 1965 to 1967. Of its first four launches, all were partly successful; the only failure placed the payload into a lower orbit than intended. The rocket stood 18.95 metres high and weighed 18.4 metric tons. The Topaze second stage was 4.70 metres long, 80 centimetres in diameter, weighed 2.93 metric tons, and had a four solid propellant engine delivering 150 kN for 44 seconds. The third stage was 1.85 metres long, weighed 708 kilograms, and used a P064 solid-propellant engine burning for 45 seconds with 52 kN thrust. The Diamant B, an improved version with a more powerful first stage, could place a 190 kg payload into a 200 km orbit at 5° inclination, a 25 kg payload into a 1000 km orbit, or a 130 kg payload into low polar orbit. Five launches were attempted between 1970 and 1973 from Kourou in French Guiana; the last two failed. The Diamant B was 23.5 metres high and weighed 26.9 metric tons. Its Améthyste first stage was 14.2 metres long, 1.4 metres in diameter, weighed 20 metric tons, and used an LRBA Valois N2O4/UDMH engine with 315 kN thrust for 116 seconds. The Topaze P-2.2 second stage had one P4 solid propellant engine producing 150 kN for 44 seconds. The P06 third stage was 1.66 metres long, 80 centimetres in diameter, and used a P0.68 solid propellant engine with 50 kN thrust for 46 seconds. The Diamant BP4 incorporated a new second stage while retaining the first and third stages from the Diamant B. It performed three successful launches in 1975, placing four satellites into orbit. The BP4 measured 22.68 metres high and weighed 20.3 metric tons. Its Rita P-4 second stage, derived from the MSBS rocket, was 2.28 metres long, 1.51 metres in diameter, and used a P4 solid propellant engine with 176 kN thrust for 55 seconds.
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