Sparta (rocket)

The Sparta (or Redstone Sparta) was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967.

Sparta used surplus American Redstone rockets as its first stage, a Thiokol Antares 2 from Scout rocket as a second stage, and a WRE BE-3 Alcyone solid-propellant engine as a third stage.

A first stage was recovered from the Simpson Desert in 1990 after being found in searches by explorer Dick Smith the previous year.

Several Spartas were launched between 1966 and 1967 from Woomera Test Range LA8 in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the US donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit.

The first launch was a failure, while the rest were successful.