CELPA (Mar Chiquita)
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| CELPA II (Mar Chiquita) | |
|---|---|
Centro de Experimentación y Lanzamiento de Proyectiles Autopropulsados | |
| Mar Chiquita, Argentina (north of Mar del Plata) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | rocket launch site |
| Operator | Argentine Air Force, Argentine Army |
| Location | |
Location in Argentina | |
| Coordinates | 37°43′36″S 57°24′54″W / 37.72667°S 57.41500°W |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1968 |
| In use | 1968 to 1976; 2025 |
CELPA II (Mar Chiquita) also known as CELPA II Atlántico (Centro de Experimentación y Lanzamiento de Proyectiles Autopropulsados) is a rocket launch site in Mar Chiquita, Argentina, north of Mar del Plata.[1][2]
The launch site was in service from 1968 to 1976[3] and was mainly used for launching rockets of the types Orión-2, Arcas, Rocketsonde and Dragon I. The tests from CELPA Atlántico were sponsored by the United Nations since 1969. There was a total number of 69 tests. The compound was used by agencies like NASA, Meteorological Rocket Network (USA), CNES (France) and CONAE (Argentina).[4]
As of 2016, the site is used by the Argentine Air Force and Army to test anti-aircraft weaponry.[5]
In 2025 the MET 1-SO "Escorpio" sounding rocket was launched from the site,[1][6][2][7] followed by MET 2-SO "CRUX".[8][9]