Rocket Experiments
editDuring the Cold War, when the area was part of East Germany, the eastern part of the Zingst peninsula on the German Baltic Sea coast in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was a restricted military area, used for meteorological rocket experiments. Various experiments were conducted between 1970 and 1992 in an area known as Sundi Meadows. There were 5 launches of the Polish rocket Meteor 1E in the early 1970s. On 21 October 1988 launches of Russian of the MMR06-M type rockets began. The restricted area measured just 23.6 kilometres by 25.5 kilometres. As the rockets reached heights up to 80 kilometres, the launch angle of the unguided rockets had to be determined with an accuracy of 2 degrees in order to prevent an impact outside the restricted area.
The first launches of MMR06-M rockets were not successful due to various technical difficulties. The first successful launch with a meteorological payload occurred on 12 April 1989. Additional launches continued for a short time after the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification (3 October 1990). They were finally ended on 19 December 1990 for safety and technological reasons.
Nevertheless, between 14 February and 10 April 1992 a total of 19 Russian rockets of the MMR06-M type were launched at Zingst, of which 6 were successful. Although further rockets were still available for testing, the launches of MMR06-M rockets in Zingst were stopped in April 1992 because of the removal of German Federal Armed Forces from the place.
List of Launches
edit| Date | Time (UTC + 1h) | Rocket type | Mission | Maximum altitude | Duration of transmission | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 21, 1988 | 14:35 | MMR06-M | Experimental | ? | 8s | EF |
| November 1, 1988 | 14:01 | MMR06-M | Experimental | 67 km | 360s/570s | EF |
| November 4, 1988 | 14:20 | MMR06-M | Experimental | 43 km | 250s | EF |
| November 8, 1988 | 14:11 | MMR06-M | Experimental | 78 km | 637s | EF |
| November 22, 1988 | 14:20 | MMR06-M | Experimental | 53 km | 590s | EF |
| November 23, 1988 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Experimental | 76 km | 658s | EF |
| April 7, 1989 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 72 km | 620s | EF |
| April 14, 1989 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 76 km | 4420s | PS |
| April 26, 1989 | 13:40 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 75 km | 4319s | PS |
| May 10, 1989 | 13:10 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 4210s | S |
| May 24, 1989 | 13:10 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 55 km | 3299s | PS |
| June 21, 1989 | 13:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 77 km | 678s | PS |
| September 6, 1989 | 13:38 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 3778s | S |
| October 10, 1989 | 14:10 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 3780s | S |
| October 18, 1989 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 2489s | PS |
| November 1, 1989 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 35 km | 480s | EF |
| November 8, 1989 | 14:10 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 73 km | 620s | EF |
| December 8, 1989 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 75 km | 3223s | S |
| December 20, 1989 | 14:40 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 78 km | 2205s | S |
| January 10, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 75 km | 3467s | S |
| January 19, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 55 km | 514s | EF |
| February 14, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 79 km | 2437s | PS |
| March 21, 1990 | 14:20 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 65 km | 2655s | PS |
| March 28, 1990 | 15:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 4296s | S |
| May 9, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 4061s | PS |
| May 11, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 4467s | S |
| May 30, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 4271s | S |
| June 8, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 66 km | 3242s | S |
| June 13, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 76 km | 3826s | S |
| June 20, 1990 | 13:10 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 77 km | 4292s | S |
| September 12, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 77 km | 1260s | PS |
| September 26, 1990 | 13:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 79 km | 4010s | PS |
| October 5, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 38 km | 530s | EF |
| October 12, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 53 km | 0s | EF |
| October 17, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 77 km | 1790s | PS |
| October 17, 1990 | 14:40 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 80 km | 1136s | PS |
| November 2, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 42 km | 592s | EF |
| November 2, 1990 | 14:40 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 256s | EF |
| November 23, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 68 km | 2199s | S |
| December 5, 1990 | 14:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 75 km | 605s | EF |
| December 14, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 72 km | 1900s | PS |
| December 19, 1990 | 14:00 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 66 km | 600s | EF |
| December 19, 1990 | 14:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 71 km | 648s | EF |
| February 14, 1992 | 8:50 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 70 km | 3729s | S |
| February 19, 1992 | 8:45 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 73 km | 3992s | S |
| February 21, 1992 | 8:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 77 km | 625s | EF |
| February 26, 1992 | 8:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 55 km | 1811s | PS |
| February 26, 1992 | 9:50 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 54 km | 3074s | S |
| February 28, 1992 | 8:31 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 70 km | 580s | EF |
| March 6, 1992 | 8:32 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 49 km | 570s | EF |
| March 6, 1992 | 9:24 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 80 km | 625s | EF |
| March 11, 1992 | 8:32 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 76 km | 559s | EF |
| March 11, 1992 | 9:27 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 74 km | 599s | EF |
| March 20, 1992 | 8:40 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 36 km | 535s | EF |
| March 20, 1992 | 9:58 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 75 km | 3993s | S |
| March 25, 1992 | 8:32 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 51 km | 1771s | PS |
| March 25, 1992 | 9:25 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | ? | 0s | F |
| March 27, 1992 | 8:33 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 73 km | 4317s | S |
| April 1, 1992 | 7:33 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 52 km | 589s | EF |
| April 3, 1992 | 7:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | - | 258s | F |
| April 3, 1992 | 8:20 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 75 km | 595s | EF |
| April 10, 1992 | 7:30 | MMR06-M | Meteorology | 67 km | 4054s | S |
Remarks: S = Success; PS = Partial Success; F = Failure; EF = Experiment Failure