Editing OTRAG (section)

==History==
OTRAG was founded on October 17, 1974<ref>{{cite web|last=Leitenburger|first=Bernd|title=OTRAG Rocket|url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/11436117/otrag-rocketpdf|access-date=December 20, 2022}}</ref> by German aerospace engineer [[Lutz Kayser]].  OTRAG's goal was to develop, produce, and operate a low-cost satellite launch vehicle. It was the first private company to attempt to launch a private spacecraft.<ref name="2012:May:Torchinsky">{{cite web |url=https://jalopnik.com/spacex-was-not-the-first-private-rocket-company-5913964 |title=SpaceX Was Not The First Private Rocket Company |last=Torchinsky |first=Jason |date=May 29, 2012 |website=www.jalopnik.com}}</ref>  The [[OTRAG (rocket)|OTRAG rocket]] was intended to be an inexpensive alternative to the European rocket [[Ariane (rocket)|Ariane]] and the NASA [[Space Shuttle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=183768&dt=2082&dl=1345| title=Space Transportation - Critical Newspaper Article on Shuttle Program| accessdate=2010-04-26| publisher=[[United States Department of State]]| date= 1976-07-06}}</ref>  Kayser and a private consortium of six hundred European investors financed the development and production of the OTRAG satellite launch vehicle.  Dr. [[Kurt H. Debus]] served as Chairman of the Board of OTRAG (1974–1980) after his retirement as director of NASA's [[Kennedy Space Center]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=199496&dt=2082&dl=1345| title=Request for PL Export Transaction Check| accessdate=2010-04-26| publisher=[[United States Department of State]]| date= 1976-08-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=What's Going Up in Zaire? OTRAG's Rocket Base in Shaba|last=Cohn|first=Stanley|format=PDF|date=April 1979|journal=Munger Africana Library Notes|issue=49|publisher=[[California Institute of Technology]]|location=[[Pasadena, California]]|url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/25694/1/MALN_49.pdf|access-date=December 20, 2022|issn=0047-8350}}</ref> and Dr. [[Wernher von Braun]] served as scientific adviser to Kayser.

In the face of doubts by Debus and von Braun, Kayser chose in 1975 to set up testing and launch facilities in Shaba, [[Zaire]] (now [[Katanga Province]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]).  Debus and von Braun were concerned about the possibility of Zairian acquisition of [[missile]] technology from the facilities.  Kayser decided to proceed despite their opposition.

Otrag's first test was on May 17, 1977, with the second successful launch on May 20, 1978.  The third test, 16 days later, failed on June 5, 1978, with [[President of Zaire|Zairian President]] [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] watching the launch.<ref name="1978:October:Zuckerman">{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/farms-on-the-asteroids-hotels-on-the-moon-39885/ |title=Farms on the Asteroids: Hotels on the Moon |last=Zuckerman |first=Ed |date=October 19, 1978 |website=www.rollingstone.com}}</ref>

Political pressure to halt the company's operations mounted quickly.  France and the Soviet Union were historically opposed to German long-distance rocket development and pressured the Zairian government into closing down the development facility in 1979.  Immediately afterwards, Presidents [[Giscard d'Estaing]] of France and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] of the Soviet Union convinced the [[West German]] government to cancel the OTRAG project and close down its German operations.  In 1980, OTRAG moved its production and testing facilities to a desert site in Libya.  A series of successful tests was conducted at this site beginning in 1981.<ref>{{cite news|author=John Vinocur |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/11/world/enigmatic-west-german-rocket-concern-finds-a-home-in-libyan-desert.html |title=Enigmatic West German Rocket Concern Finds A Home In Libyan Desert |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=1981-03-11 |accessdate=2016-02-24}}</ref>

OTRAG shut down in 1987.<ref name="1978:October:Zuckerman"/>  As the company left Libya, [[Muammar Gaddafi]] confiscated all equipment and installations, hoping to later use the technology, and German investors lost their money.<ref name="2015:June:Wall">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jun/13/naked-island-idyll-eccentric-couple-recall-life-rockets-dictators |title=Naked in an island idyll: eccentric couple recall a life of rockets and dictators |last=Wall |first=Kim |date=June 13, 2015 |website=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>