ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2009) — Texus-46, the latest in the series of ESA-funded sounding rockets, soared into a blue sky on Nov. 22, when the unpredictable weather of early winter finally allowed launch after a seven-day wait.

The TEXUS 43 sounding rocket was successfully launched 11 May 2006 from the Swedish Space Corporation's (SSC) launch facility Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. The launch took place at 08.12 UT and the rocket provided almost 6 minutes (347 sec) of microgravity time for the 5 experiments on board. The payload was back at Esrange 75 minutes after lift-off. (Credit: Swedish Space Corporation)

"The launch was very smooth, all systems functioned perfectly and luckily the weather cooperated, too," said Antonio Verga, ESA's sounding rocket project manager. "We had some problems during the preparation of experiments last week and some adverse weather, but finally we were able to launch the rocket. According to preliminary analysis, the scientific results are very good."

"The fuselage of the rocket housing the experiments has been hoisted back to Esrange by helicopter and the de-integration work of the experiments has been already completed showing excellent conditions of the experiment modules," said Martin Zell, Head of Research Operations Department of the Directorate of Human Spaceflight.

The Texus flights are conducted by ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight in cooperation with the German Aerospace Centre, DLR. The research is performed as part of the 'European programme for Life and Physical sciences and applications using the International Space Station' (ELIPS).

A space centre in the north

The Esrange centre, located in northern…

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