Shaba North


Shaba North was the launch site of the first rockets launched by Orbital Transport und Raketen AktienGesellschaft, or Orbital Forwarding Company in English.
It is located at the edge of a mesa in Shaba, the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1976 Luvua Airport was built to supply the site.
In 1977 and in 1978 three test flights of OTRAG rockets were launched from Shaba North.
In 1979 OTRAG stopped launching rockets from Shaba North after pressure from the Soviet Union, whose leaders were concerned about German interests obtaining powerful long-range rockets. Its launching activities were later moved to Sabha, Libya.

Launches

Three test flights were launched from Shaba North.
DateOTRAG versionApogeeDetails
1977 May 184x9m15 kmFour-module test vehicle, 6 m long; propulsion test
1978 May 194x9m30 kmFour-module test vehicle, 6 m long; high altitude night test
1978 Jun 54x15m0Lost control and crashed in seconds

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