Alfa was the designation of an Italian solid propellant SLBM program. Starting as a development effort for a study on efficient solid-propellant rockets, the Alfa rocket was planned as two-stage rocket. It was never developed to completion, however test launches with upper stage mockup from Salto di Quirra

Salto di Quirra

Salto di Quirra is a rocket launching site near Perdasdefogu on Sardinia ....

 took place between 1973 and 1975.

The Italian NPT

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...

ratification in 1975 effectively ended the project.

The Alfa was 6.5 meters long and had a diameter of 1.37 meters. The first stage of the Alfa was 3.85 m long and contained 6 t of solid rocket fuel. It supplied a thrust of 232 kN for a duration of 57 seconds.

External links

• http://www.univ-perp.fr/fuseurop/alfa_e.htm
• http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/alfa.htm
• http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/mwade/lvs/alfa.htm