LEX (sounding rocket)

French experimental sounding rocket

LEX french sounding rocketLEX sounding rocket diagram

LEX (french: Lithergol EXpérimentale) was a French experimental hybrid-propellant sounding rocket, developed by ONERA.[1][2][3][4] It had the objective of testing a lithergol fueled rocket engine (an hybrid mixture of solid and liquid propellants \- Nylon-metatolueneamine as fuel and mixture of nitric acid and nitrogen tetroxide as oxidizer).[1] It was the first rocket in history to use this technology, flying 8 times between 1964 and 1967.[5][6][1]

The rocket had a single stage with a thrust of 10.00 kN (MT.27 hybrid rocket motor), a gross mass of 100 kg, a height of 3.40 m, and a diameter of 0.16 m, reaching an apogee of 130 km.[6][1]

## Launches

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All LEX launches were carried out from CERES Ile du Levant.[1]

The first LEX-01 launch on 25 April 1964 was a partial success, with the payload consisting of a telemetry transmitter.[5][6]

Three LEX-02 rockets were fired on 1 June 1965. One of these rockets, with an initial mass of 78 kg, reached an altitude of 68 km.[5][6]

Four LEX-02-B launches occurred on 1 November 1967. Two were intended as technological tests and two others as actual payload launches.[5][6] These carried the SECT Meteo meteorological payloads, reaching an altitude of more than 100 km, with a parachute ensuring a correct descent for 31 minutes allowing wind measurements over a wide range of altitudes.[5][1]

LEX sounding rocket launches[5][6][1] Flight no.  | Version  | Launch date (UTC)  | Payload(s)  | Apogee  | Notes

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1  | LEX-01  | 04/25/1964  | Telemetry transmitter  | 1 km  | First flight of LEX (partial failure due to residues in the engine)
2  | LEX-02  | 06/01/1965  | Telemetry transmitter  | 68 km  | First flight of LEX-02
3  | LEX-02  | 06/01/1965  | Telemetry transmitter  | 60 km  |
4  | LEX-02  | 06/01/1965  | Telemetry transmitter  | 60 km  | Last flight of LEX-02
5  | LEX-02B  | 01/11/1967  | Telemetry transmitter  | 101 km  | First flight of LEX-02B
6  | LEX-02B  | 01/11/1967  | SECT Meteo | 80 km  |
7  | LEX-02B  | 01/11/1967  | SECT Meteo | 115 km  |
8  | LEX-02B  | 01/11/1967  | SECT Meteo | 115 km  | LEX's last flight

## See also

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* Bérénice (rocket)
* Mélanie (rocket)
* Veronique (rocket)
* French space program

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g Gunter D., Krebs (2024). "LEX". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
2. ^ Lestrade; Messineo; Hijlkema; Prévot; Casalis; Anthoine (June 2016). "Challenges in Combustion for Aerospace Propulsion - Hybrid Chemical Engines: Recent Advances from Sounding Rocket Propulsion and Vision for Spacecraft Propulsion" (PDF). Journal Aerospace Lab (11): 6.
3. ^ Surmacz, Paweł & Rarata, Grzegorz. (2009). Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Development and Application. Progress in Astronautics.
4. ^ Okninski, Adam; Kopacz, Wioleta; Kaniewski, Damian; Sobczak, Kamil (2021-12-01). "Hybrid rocket propulsion technology for space transportation revisited - propellant solutions and challenges". FirePhysChem. Progress in Hybrid Rocket Propulsion. 1 (4): 260–271. Bibcode:2021FPhCh...1..260O. doi:10.1016/j.fpc.2021.11.015. ISSN 2667-1344.
5. ^ a b c d e f "La fusée Lex". Eurospace. 1999.
6. ^ a b c d e f Wade, Mark (2019). "Lex". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2024-01-03.