Forschungsflugkörper

The Forschungsflugkörper (German for research aircraft or missile) was a West German sounding rocket manufactured by ERNO from 1972 to 1974 for the German Aerospace Center (DLR). It was a single stage rocket, powered by one solid rocket motor. It was launched three times by MORABA, from the Centre d'Essais des Landes, French Army launch site near Biscarosse. Only the last flight was successful, reaching the apogee of 120 km, just above the Kármán line. It had a weight of 300 kg, a length of 4.00 metres, a core diameter of 0.25 metres.

Launch history

Date	Flight	Function	Launch site	Apogee	Outcome	Remarks
10 October 1972 14:00 GMT	DLR C-FFK-45	Test flight	Biscarosse	0 km	Failure
24 October 1972 15:00 GMT	DLR C-FFK-46	Test flight	Biscarosse	0 km	Failure
7 May 1974 13:00 GMT	DLR C-FFK-47	Test flight	Biscarosse	120 km	Success

Sources and further reading

• Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997–present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches.
• Encyclopedia Astronautica