ESA - Education - Rocket & Balloon Experiments for University Students

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Rocket & Balloon Experiments for University Students

The REXUS and BEXUS programmes offer opportunities for student experiments to be flown on sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons. Each flight will carry a payload consisting solely of student experiments.

The REXUS / BEXUS programme is realised under a bilateral Agency Agreement between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB). The Swedish share of the payload has been made available to students from other European countries through a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).

EuroLaunch, a cooperation between the Esrange Space Center of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) of DLR, is responsible for the campaign management and operations of the launch vehicles. Experts from ESA, SSC and DLR provide technical support to the student teams throughout the project.

REXUS is an unguided, spin-stabilised, solid-propellant, single stage rocket. The vehicle has a length of 5.6 m and a diameter of 35.6 cm and the total available mass for student experiments is about 30 kg.

The BEXUS balloon has a volume of 12,000 m³ and a diameter of 14m when filled. The total mass available for the experiments is between 40 and 100 kg. The maximum altitude is 35km and the flight duration is 2-5 hours.

For more information, please visit the REXUS/BEXUS website and the DLR REXUS/BEXUS webpages.

Quick Facts

Project:	Rocket & Balloon Experiments for University Students
Level:	University
Status REXUS:	REXUS 9 & 10 launch March 2011 REXUS 11 & 12 call for proposals open
Status BEXUS:	BEXUS 10 & 11 launch October 2010 BEXUS 12 & 13 call for proposals open
Contact:	Helen Page, rexus-bexus @ esa.int

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