Dragon (rocket)
The Dragon is a two-stage French solid propellant sounding rocket used for high altitude research. The dragon's first stage was a Stromboli engine (diameter 56 cm) which burned 675 kg of fuel in 16 seconds and so produced a maximum thrust of 88 kN. A Bélier engine was used as the upper stage. It belonged thereby to a family of solid-propellant rockets derived from the Bélier, including the Centaure, the Dauphin and the Éridan. A payload of 30 to 120 kg could be carried on parabolic with apogees between 440 km (270 mi) (Dragon 2B ) and 560 km (340 mi)(Dragon III) The Dragon was built in several versions including the Dragon-2B, and Dragon-3, Dragons have been launched from Andøya, Norway; Biscarrosse, France; Dumont d'Urville, Antarctica; Chamical, Argentina; CIEES in Hammaguir, Algeria; Kerguelen Islands; Kourou, French Guiana; Mar Chiquita, Argentina; Salto di Quirra, Sardinia; Sonmiani, Pakistan; Thumba, India; and Vík í Mýrdal, Iceland.