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History In 1964 ESRANGE was established as an ESRO sounding rocket launching range located in Kiruna (Sweden). This location was chosen because it was generally agreed that it was important to carry out a sounding rocket programme in the auroral zone, and for this reason it was essential that ESRO equip itself with a suitable range in the northern latitudes. Access to Kiruna was good by air, road and rail, and the launching range was relatively close to the town of Kiruna. Finally and perhaps decisively, ESRANGE could be located near Kiruna Geophysical Observatory (subsequently renamed to Swedish Institute of Space Physics). In 1972 ownership and operations of the range was tranfered to the Swedish Space Corporation. Rocket activities There had been Swedish rocket activities previously, mainly at Kronogrd (18 launches in the period 1961-1964). However, the rocket activity in Sweden did not gain thrust until after ESRO established Esrange in 1964. During the period 1966-1972 ESRO launched more than 150 rockets from Esrange. Most of these were Centaure, Nike Apache, and Skua rockets reaching 100-220 km altitude. They supported many branches of European research, but the emphasis was on atmospheric and ionospheric research. In 1972 the management of Esrange was transferred to the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). Gradually the smaller rockets were complemented by larger rockets reaching higher altitudes, achieving weightlessness for a few minutes when the rocket is above the parts of the atmosphere giving an appreciable friction. Three main programmes, Texus, Maser, and Maxus currently dominate the rocket activities at Esrange and support microgravity research for ESA and DLR: Programme Rocket motor Peak altitude Payload mass Microgravity time Period Launches Customers Texus Skylark 7, VSB-30 250-300 km 330-400 kg 6 minutes 1977- 47 DLR and ESA Maser Black Brant, Skylark 7, VSB-30 250-300 km 330-400 kg 6 minutes 1987- 11 ESA Maxus Castor 4B 700-720 km 800 kg 12-13 minutes 1991- 7 ESA and DLR Mini-Texus Nike Orion 120-150 km 160-200 kg 3-4 minutes 1993-1998 6 DLR and ESA More than 400 rockets have been launched from Esrange since 1966. For information on individual rockets, see the Esrange rocket launch list. Esrange has four launch pads: Aries launcher Centaure launcher MRL Launcher (used for the Black Brant) Skylark launch tower (used for the Maxus and Skylark) Balloon activities Since 1974, more than 500 high-altitude balloons have been launched from Esrange for research purposes. The launch pad can handle balloons with volumes exceeding 1 million cubic meters. Satellite services The arctic latitude of Esrange makes it very suitable for communication with satellites in polar orbits. Satellite services began in 1978. Satellite control services A number of telecommunication satellites have been controlled through Esrange: Tele-X (1989-1998) Sirius-1 (1995-2003) Sirius-2 (1997-2009) Sirius-3 (1998-) Sirius-4 (2008-) All the research satellites of the Swedish space programme have received control commands through Esrange: Viking (1986-1987) Freja (1992-1996) Astrid-1 (1995) Astrid-2 (1998-1999) Odin (2001-) Ground station services Data have been received at Esrange from more than 50 satellites, including SPOT 1-5, Landsat 2-7, ERS 1-2 and Envisat. See also Esrange rocket launch list Swedish Space Corporation Swedish National Space Board Swedish Institute of Space Physics North European Aerospace Test range List of rocket launch sites Spaceport Sweden External links Esrange - Official site Listings of stratospheric balloons launched from there Sources The History of Sounding Rockets and Their Contribution to European Space Research, Gnther Seibert, ESA HSR-38, November 2006, ISBN 92-9092-550-7. - Official web site of the Swedish Space Corporation Coordinates: 675338 210625 / 67.89389N 21.10694E / 67.89389; 21.10694 vde Spaceports Asia CNSA: Jiuquan Taiyuan Xichang Wenchang Base 603 ISRO: SDSC TERLS VSSC ISA: Semnan ISA: Palmachim JAXA: Tanegashima Uchinoura FKA: Baikonur KCST: Tonghae Tongch'ang-dong SUPARCO: Sonmiani Tilla FKA: Dombarovskiy Svobodny Vostochny KARI: Naro Europe FKA: Kapustin Yar Plesetsk SSC: Esrange North America CAF, CSA: Fort Churchill NASA: KSC Wallops DoD: Cape Canaveral Vandenberg Private: Corn Ranch Jacksonville Kodiak Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Mojave Oklahoma Spaceport America South America FAB, AEB: Barreira do Inferno Alcntara ESA, CNES: Guiana/Kourou Pacific Marshall Islands - DoD: Reagan Test Site (Kwajalein) Mobile - Private: Sea Launch vde European Space Agency Spaceports Guiana Space Centre Esrange Programmes Aurora Programme Living Planet (Earth Observation, Earth Watch) Programme Orfeo Programme Technology Transfer Programme Related EUMETSAT European Space Camp Arianespace Planetary Science Archive GEWEX Projects Cancelled Eddington mission EADS Phoenix Hermes Failed CryoSat Current Active Artemis ATV Cluster Columbus Corot Envisat ERS-2 GIOVE-A GIOVE-B Galileo positioning system GOCE Herschel Space Observatory Hubble Space Telescope Integral Mars Express MetOp-A Planck Proba-2 Rosetta SOHO SMOS XMM-Newton Venus Express Queued ADM-Aeolus BepiColombo CryoSat-2 Don Quijote ExoMars Galileo positioning system Gaia KEO James Webb Space Telescope LISA Pathfinder Future Advanced Re-entry Vehicle Cosmic Vision XEUS Darwin Mission FLPP IXV Mars sample return mission Proba-3 Solar Orbiter Laplace TandEM Past Cos-B Chandrayaan-1 Double Star ERS-1 EURECA Giotto mission Hipparcos Huygens probe ISO IUE SMART 1 Ulysses YES2 Portal Categories: European Space Agency | Space exploration | Spaceports | Rocket launch sites | Science and technology in Sweden | Swedish space programme | KirunaHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from July 2008
