El Arenosillo
Encyclopedia
El Arenosillo is the name of a rocket launch site for suborbital rocket
s for atmospheric sounding
s, located near Mazagón
in Spain
. It is located in the province
of Huelva
in southern Spain
, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community
of Andalucía.
The first launch of a rocket from El Arenosillo took place October 4, 1966. Up to 1994 a total of 557 rockets were launched from this base, mainly of the Skua
type and in collaboration with other countries.
All rockets for atmospheric soundings in Spain are launched from El Arenosillo.
El Arenosillo is also the location of an autonomous astronomical observatory of the BOOTES network http://bootes1.homeip.net, with two domes and three telescopes.
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s for atmospheric sounding
Atmospheric sounding
An atmospheric sounding is a measurement of vertical distribution of physical properties of the atmospheric column such as pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind direction , liquid water content, ozone concentration, pollution, and other properties...
s, located near Mazagón
Mazagón
Mazagón is a beach town in Spain near Huelva....
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is located in the province
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...
of Huelva
Huelva (province)
Huelva is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva....
in southern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Andalucía.
The first launch of a rocket from El Arenosillo took place October 4, 1966. Up to 1994 a total of 557 rockets were launched from this base, mainly of the Skua
Skua (rocket)
Skua is the designation of a British sounding rocket which was launched between 1959 and 1981 in 4 versions over 300 times. The Skua was developed by Bristol Aerojet and RPE Wescott. It consisted of a starting stage made up of several Chick rockets that burned for 0.2 seconds. They propelled the...
type and in collaboration with other countries.
All rockets for atmospheric soundings in Spain are launched from El Arenosillo.
El Arenosillo is also the location of an autonomous astronomical observatory of the BOOTES network http://bootes1.homeip.net, with two domes and three telescopes.