NASA Sounding Rocket Program
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The NASA Sounding Rocket Program (NSRP) is a NASA run program of sounding rockets which has been operating since 1959.[1][2] The missions carried out by this program are primarily used for scientific research, particularly low gravity and material based research.[3] NASA's sounding rocket program is commonly used by colleges and universities for upper atmosphere research.[4]
In 1965, NASA's cost of a sounding rocket system was $5,000 to $150,000, using combinations of stage motors from the Aerobee, Hercules M5E1 (developed for the Nike Ajax), and Thiokol Apache.[5]
The program was consolidated at the Wallops Flight Facility in the 1980s and uses extra military solid rocket motors. Rockets are frequently launched from fixed facilities at Wallops, the Navy's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, Pacific Missile Range Facility in Barking Sands, Hawaii, and Andøya Rocket Range, Norway. The rockets are categorized as "Significant Military Equipment" for ITAR.[1]