Sonda (rocket)

Sonda ("Probe" in English) is a family of Brazilian-built sounding rockets which serves as an R&D path to the VLS (Portuguese: Veículo Lançador de Satélites) orbital rocket. Launches started in 1965 and continue to this day. Launch sites include Wallops Island, Andoya, Kiruna, Natal, Alcântara, Cassino and SvalRak.[1][2]

Sonda rockets family portrait
Side-by-side comparison of Sonda rockets, to scale

Sonda I

The Sonda I is a two stage rocket (S10-1 + S-10-2 rocket stages) with a maximum flight altitude of 65 km, a liftoff thrust of 27 kN a total mass of 100 kg, a diameter of 11 cm and a length of 4.5 metres. It was launched 9 times between 1965 and 1966.[3]

Diagram with Sonda I rocket dimensions.

Sonda II

The Sonda II is a single stage rocket (S-20 rocket stage) with a maximum flight altitude of 180 km, a Liftoff Thrust of 36.00 kN, a total mass of 400 kg, a core Diameter of 0.30 m and a total Length of 5.60 m. It was launched 7 times between 1990 and 1996.[4]

Diagram with Sonda II rocket dimensions.

Sonda III

Sonda III is a two stage rocket available in three versions, the Sonda III (S30 + S-20 rocket stages), the Sonda III M1 (S30 + S-23 rocket stages) and the Sonda IIIA (S30 + S33 rocket stages).[5] The first two versions rockets have a maximum flight altitude of 600 km, a liftoff Thrust of 102.00 kN, a diameter of 0.30 m and a length of 8.00 m. However Sonda 3 weighs 1500 kg while Sonda 3 M1 weighs 1400 kg at launch. It was launched 27 times between 1976 and 2002.[6]

Diagram with Sonda III rocket dimensions.
Sonda III rocket shapes.

Sonda IV

Sonda IV is a two stage rocket (S30 + S-43 rocket stages) with a maximum flight altitude of 800 km, a liftoff Thrust of 203.00 kN, a total Mass of 7200 kg, a diameter of 1.01 m and a length of 11.00 m. It was launched 7 times between 1984 and 1990.[7]

Diagram with Sonda IV rocket dimensions.
  • Sonda I-01
    Sonda I-01
  • Sonda II-01
    Sonda II-01
  • Sonda II-01
    Sonda II-01
  • Sonda III
    Sonda III
  • Sonda III-02
    Sonda III-02
  • Sonda IV-01
    Sonda IV-01
  • Sonda IV-02
    Sonda IV-02
  • Sonda IV-03
    Sonda IV-03

References
  1. "Sonda". August 24, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-24.
  2. "The Brazilian Sounding Rocket VSB-30: meeting the Brazilian Space Program and COPUOS objectives" (PDF). Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  3. "Sonda 1". August 24, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-24.
  4. "Sonda 2". August 24, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-24.
  5. "Sonda III".
  6. "Sonda 3". August 24, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-24.
  7. "Sonda 4". www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
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