The building of a rocket range in the North part of Norway was decided by the Ministry of Defense in March 1960. Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (NDRE) was authorized in launching small American sounding rockets for geophysical and astrophysical researches. The first launches of Nike Cajun rockets were carried out in 1962 from a summarily arranged facility at Andøya, and until 1965, the range was occupied only at the time of the launching campaigns.
Late 1962, ESRO being aware that the rocket range which it had planned to build at Kiruna, Sweden, could not be operational before the autumn 1965, decided to use an alternative septentrional base. Although Norway was not member of ESRO, the choice was made on Andøya whose installations were already available. The agreement, planning the launches of French Centaur and Dragon rockets, was signed in 1965. The first six ESRO rockets were launched from Andøya in the first quarter of 1966 and four rockets were launched on behalf of CNES the same year. Late 1966, the ESRANGE at Kiruna was opened and the ESRO campaigns were moved there. In spite of this competition, Andøya Rocket Range (ARR) continued to be used regularly for bilateral or international sounding rockets programs.
In 1972, after ten years of operation, the score reached 104 launches of which 102 realized in co-operation. Since this date, the range has been supported through a Special Project Agreement under which it is maintained by and made available to some ESA states. It is also operated for commercial and bilateral programs.
The ARR, which is now managed by Norwegian Space Center, comprises eight launch pads including an universal ramp able to launch rockets weighing up to 20 tons. It was in particular used for the launch of a 5.4 tons Black Brant XII rocket in 1995.
In 1982, 4 Nike Tomahawk rockets were launched from a mobile base at Haugnes (69.28°N and 16.18°E). Since 1997, Norway also has a mobile base at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78.92°N and 11.93°E); four rockets were launched there this year. Other launches - American and Japanese rockets - are planned.
Launches from Andøya
Detailed list
| Year | Total | Instr. | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 3 | 3 | 3 Nike Cajun |
| 1963 | 2 | 2 | 1 Nike Apache, 1 Nike Cajun |
| 1964 | 3 | 3 | 3 Nike Apache |
| 1965 | 12 | 12 | 6 Arcas, 6 Nike Apache |
| 1966 | 12 | 12 | 6 Centaure, 4 Dragon, 2 Nike Apache |
| 1967 | 15 | 15 | 4 Arcas, 3 Dragon, 2 Nike Apache, 6 Nike Tomahawk |
| 1968 | 9 | 9 | 1 Arcas, 1 Dragon, 2 Nike Apache, 5 Nike Tomahawk |
| 1969 | 15 | 15 | 9 Arcas, 2 Centaure, 2 Dragon, 1 Nike Apache, 1 Nike Cajun |
| 1970 | 12 | 12 | 1 Arcas, 2 Black Brant 4, 5 Black Brant 5, 1 Nike Cajun, 3 Nike Tomahawk |
| 1971 | 4 | 4 | 1 Nike Cajun, 3 Nike Tomahawk |
| 1972 | 17 | 17 | 1 Cuckoo Zenith, 2 Nike Apache, 2 Nike Cajun, 2 Nike Tomahawk, 7 Petrel, 3 Skua |
| 1973 | 23 | 23 | 2 Black Brant 5, 3 Nike Tomahawk, 14 Petrel, 4 Skylark |
| 1974 | 4 | 4 | 1 Black Brant 4, 2 Nike Tomahawk, 1 Skylark |
| 1975 | 1 | 1 | 1 Nike Cajun |
| 1976 | 7 | 7 | 2 Fulmar, 2 Nike Tomahawk, 2 Skylark, 2 Terrier Malemute |
| 1977 | 15 | 15 | 3 Fulmar, 3 Nike Tomahawk, 1 Petrel, 8 Skylark |
| 1978 | 9 | 9 | 2 Nike Apache, 3 Nike Tomahawk, 1 Orion, 3 Skylark |
| 1979 | 2 | 2 | 1 Fulmar, 1 Petrel |
| 1980 | 36 | 18 | 3 Nike Apache, 3 Nike Orion, 2 Nike Tomahawk, 3 Orion, 4 Taurus Orion, 3 Skua? |
| 1981 | 1 | 1 | 1 Nike Tomahawk |
| 1982 | 4 | 4 | 4 Nike Tomahawk (Haugnes) |
| 1983 | 37 | 2 | 1 Nike Orion, 1 Terrier Malemute |
| 1984 | 99 | 10 | 9 Nike Orion, 1 Skylark |
| 1985 | 2 | 2 | 1 Black Brant 9, 1 Skylark |
| 1986 | 1 | 1 | 1 Black Brant 10 |
| 1987 | 93 | 17 | 4 Arcas, 10 Nike Orion, 3 Orion |
| 1988 | 14 | 4 | 1 Black Brant 5, 1 Black Brant 10, 2 Skylark |
| 1989 | 1 | 1 | 1 Black Brant 10 |
| 1990 | 92 | 8 | 1 Black Brant 5, 6 Nike Orion, 1 S-520 |
| 1991 | 26 | 7 | 6 Nike Orion, 1 S-520 |
| 1992 | 21 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 7 | 2 | 2 Nike Orion |
| 1994 | 19 | 7 | 1 Black Brant 9, 3 Nike Orion, 2 S-310,1 S-520 |
| 1995 | 13 | 1 | 1 Black Brant 12 |
| 1996 | 3 | 3 Viper 3A (MiniDusty) | |
| 1997 | 3 | 1 Terrier I-Orion, 1 VS30, 1 Viper 3A (MiniDusty) | |
| 1998 | 1 | 1 VS30 | |
| 1999 | 39 | 8 | 2 Black Brant 5, 1 Black Brant 12, 2 I-Orion, 3 Viper 3A (MiniDusty/MiniMidas) |
| 2000 | 6 | 3 | 2 I-Orion, 1 Viper 3A (MiniMidas) |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 I-Orion | |
| 2002 | 5 | 3 I-Orion, 2 Terrier I-Orion | |
| 2003 | 5 | 2 Excalibur (MiniDusty), 3 I-Orion | |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 S-310 |
| Year | Total | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 4 | 2 Black Brant, 1 Rohini 300 (Isbjorn), 1 Minidusty |
| 2000 | 1 | 1 SS-520 |
| 2002 | 1 | 1 Black Brant |
| 2003 | 1 | 1 Nike I-Orion |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 Black Brant |
External resources
Andøya Rocket Range
Norwegian Space Center
Norwegian Space Center: Andøya Rocket Range
NASA Sounding Rockets Launch Log