Orion (rocket)

This article is about the American sounding rocket. For the Argentinian sounding rocket, see Orión (rocket). For the spacecraft, see Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. For other uses, see Orion.

One of the first rocket Orion (HAWK at the time) shortly after launch.

Improved Orion rocket shortly after launch.

Orion is the designation of a small American sounding rocket. The Orion has a length of 5.60 meters, a diameter of 0.35 m, a launch weight of 400 kg, a launch thrust of 7 kN and a ceiling of 85 kilometers. The Orion, built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, is also used as an upper stage of sounding rockets, usually paired with a Terrier missile as the first stage.

Incidents

A lightning storm over the Wallops launch pad on 9 June 1987 ignited a NASA Orion rocket and 2 other sounding rockets. The Orion flew horizontally about 300 feet into the ocean. The sounding rockets rose to around 15,000 feet altitude, then fell about 2 miles from the launch pad. No persons were hurt in the incident.