Eole

On 17 May 1946 the French DEFA Agency established the LRBA (Ballistics and Aeronautical Research Laboratory). Jean-Jacques Barre was authorized to develop an improved version of his EA 1941 wartime indigenous rocket design on 15 October, 1946. This development was in competition with the Veronique, being developed for LRBA by a German team. Barre’s EA 1946, powered by a liquid oxygen/gasoline engine with a 100 kN thrust, was intended to be a credible army weapon.

Static tests began in February 1949 in Vernon, but it took three years and a switch to ethanol fuel to obtain stable combustion. Two flight tests in 1952 ended in failure. After six years the German design teams had produced better results, and the French military decided storable propellant engines offered more promise. The project was cancelled.

Nr   TypeNr Vehicle          Serial     Date              LS      Payload

 1     1    Eole                        22.11.1952  * F   Ha      (R&D)
 2     2    Eole                        24.11.1952  * F   Ha      (R&D)
 

Launch sites:

Ha  = Centre interarmées d’essais d’engins spéciaux (CIEES), Hammaguir, Algeria