Editing Agate (rocket)

{{Short description|French test rocket}}
{{Infobox rocket
<!----Image (optional)---->|image=[[File:VE 110 Agate.svg|80px]]|image_size=<!--Size of image (omit "px" suffix), optional, defaults to 270px-->|caption=Agate VE 110|name=Agate|function=[[Sounding rocket]]|manufacturer=[[Sud Aviation|SEREB]]|country-origin=France|height={{convert|8.50|m|ft}}|diameter={{convert|0.80|m|ft}}|mass={{convert|3200|kg}}|stages=1|derivatives=[[Rubis (rocket)|Rubis]], [[Diamant (rocket)|Diamant]]|status=Retired|sites=[[CIEES]]/[[CERES Ile du Levant]]|launches=12|success=11|fail=1|first=June 3, 1961|last=April 20, 1964|stagedata={{Infobox rocket/stage
  |type       =  stage
  |stageno    =  First
  |name       =  
  |engines    = NA801 Mammouth
  |thrust     = {{convert|186|kN}}
  |chamber_pressure= 
  |SI         = 
  |burntime   = 
  |fuel       = Solid
}}}}'''VE 110 Agate''' is the designation of an unguided French test [[rocket]] developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Agate (VE-110) |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/agate.htm |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wade |first=Mark |date=2019 |title=Agate |url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/agate.html |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Encyclopedia Astronautica}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Capdevila |first=Didier |title=Les Constellations et les Pierres Précieuses |url=http://www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_europeen/espace_francais/pierres_precieuses.htm |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Capcom Espace}}</ref>

It was part of the ''Pierres précieuses'' (fr.: gemstones) program, that included five prototypes '''Agathe''', [[Topaze (rocket)|Topaze]], [[Emeraude (rocket)|Emeraude]], [[Rubis (rocket)|Rubis]] and [[Saphir (rocket)|Saphir]],<ref name=":1" /> leading up to the [[Diamant]] orbital rocket.

The Agate has a length of 8.50 metres, a diameter of 0.80 metres, a start mass of 3.2 tonnes, a takeoff [[thrust]] of 186 [[newton (unit)|kN]] and a ceiling of 20&nbsp;km. It used a ''NA801 Mammouth'' [[Solid-propellant rocket|solid propellant]] rocket engine (same as the [[Rubis (rocket)|Rubis VE-210]]).<ref name=":0" />

The initial version was designated '''VE (Véhicule Expérimental) 110''',<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> while the '''VE 110RR''' version was used to develop recovery procedures at sea.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The name indicates that it is a "'''V'''éhicule '''E'''xpérimental" (Experimental Vehicle)  with '''1''' stage, using solid propulsion (code '''1'''), and not guided (code '''0''').<gallery mode="packed">
File:PierrePrecieusesf.png|Military space program Pierres précieuses (fr.: gemstones) that included the five prototypes '''Agathe''', [[Topaze (rocket)|Topaze]], [[Emeraude (rocket)|Emeraude]], [[Rubis (rocket)|Rubis]] et [[Saphir (rocket)|Saphir]].
File:SEREB Agate Rubis rockets.gif|Agate and [[Rubis (rocket)|Rubis]] rockets
</gallery>

== Launches ==
The Agate was launched from the [[CIEES]] test site in [[Hammaguir]], [[French Algeria]], and the [[CERES Ile du Levant|Île du Levant]] test site,<ref name=":0" /> in order to test instrument capsules and recovery systems.<ref name=":1" />
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Date
!Launch Site
!Launch Complex
!Mission Description
!Apogee (km)
|-
|1961 June 3
|[[Centre interarmées d'essais d'engins spéciaux|Hammaguira]]
|Hammaguira Bacchus
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1961 June 7
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Bacchus
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1961 Nov 13
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Bacchus
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1961 Nov 17
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Bacchus
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1962 Mar 19
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Bacchus
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1962 Mar 23
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Bacchus
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1963 May 18
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Brigitte
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1963 May 21
|Hammaguira
|Hammaguira Brigitte
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1963 Nov 19
|[[CERES Ile du Levant|Île du Levant]]
|CERES
|Failure
|0
|-
|1963 Nov 28
|Ile du Levant
|CERES
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1964 Feb 28
|Ile du Levant
|CERES
|Test mission
|20
|-
|1964 Apr 20
|Ile du Levant
|CERES
|Test mission
|20
|}

== See also == 
* [[French space program]]
* [[Rubis (rocket)|Rubis]]
* [[Diamant]]
* [[Nuclear dissuasion]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{French rockets}}

[[Category:Pierres précieuses]]


{{rocket-stub}}