Saphir (rocket)

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French two stage rocket

title: "Saphir (rocket)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["experimental-rockets", "pierres-précieuses"] description: "French two stage rocket" topic_path: "general/experimental-rockets" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saphir_(rocket)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary French two stage rocket ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rocket"]

Field	Value
image	SEREB Saphir Emeraude rockets.gif
caption	A diagram of the Saphir rocket
name	Saphir
manufacturer	SEREB
country-origin	France
height	17.77 m
diameter	1.40 m
mass	18058 kg
stages	2
family	Pierres Précieuses
("Precious Stones")
derivatives	Diamant
status	Retired
sites	CIEES
launches	15
success	13
fail	2
first	5 July 1965
last	27 January 1967
type	stage
stageno	First
name	Emeraude
engines	1 Vexin-B
thrust	301.55 kN
SI	251 seconds
burntime	93 seconds
fuel	N2O4/UDMH
type	stage
stageno	Second
name	Topaze
thrust	120 kN
SI	255 seconds
burntime	39 seconds
fuel	solid
::

|height = 17.77 m |diameter = 1.40 m |mass = 18058 kg |stages = 2

|family = Pierres Précieuses ("Precious Stones") |derivatives = Diamant |comparable =

|first = 5 July 1965 |last = 27 January 1967

VE 231 Saphir (French, meaning sapphire) was a French two stage sounding rocket.

It was part of the pierres précieuses (fr.: gemstones) program, that included five prototypes Agathe, Topaze, Emeraude, Rubis and Saphir, leading up to the Diamant orbital rocket.

Its codename, VE 231, indicates that it is a "Véhicule Expérimental" (Experimental Vehicle) with 2 stages, using liquid and solid propellant (code 3), and guided (code 1).

Saphir was used between 1965 and 1967 and had a payload capacity of 365 kg. The rocket could reach a maximum altitude of 1000 km and produced thrust of 280 kN at launch. Saphir had a launch mass of 18058 kg, a diameter of 1.40 m and a length of 17.77 m.

Saphir variants were designed to allow testing of radio-controlled guidance (VE231P), inertial guidance (VE231G), and warhead separation and ablative heat shielding of a re-entry vehicle (VE231R).

The Diamant rocket, which carried the first French satellite, Asterix-1, into orbit, was developed from the Saphir with the addition of a third stage. After the successful launch of Diamant, Saphir rockets were used to test technologies for France's burgeoning intercontinental ballistic missile development—as mentioned before, radio and inertial guidance, warhead separation, and ablative heat shielding of a re-entry vehicle.

Launches

Saphir was launched 15 times from CIEES, Hammaguir, from July 5, 1965, to January 27, 1967. ::data[format=table]

Number	Date	Variant	Payload	Apogee (km)	Result
1	5 Jul 1965	VE231P	Reentry P1	1000	Success
2	10 Jul 1965	VE231P	Reentry P2	50	Failure
3	9 Oct 1965	VE231P	Reentry P3	1150	Success
4	13 Mar 1966	VE231G	Reentry G1	1000	Success
5	18 Mar 1966	VE231G	Reentry G2	1000	Success
6	28 Mar 1966	VE231R	Reentry R2	1000	Success
7	5 Apr 1966	VE231R	Reentry R1	1000	Success
8	23 Jun 1966	VE231R	Reentry R4	1000	Success
9	5 Oct 1966	VE231R	Reentry R3	1000	Success
10	28 Oct 1966	VE231G	Reentry G3	1000	Success
11	2 Nov 1966	VE231G	Reentry G4	1000	Success
12	2 Dec 1966	VE231R	Reentry R5	50	Failure
13	13 Dec 1966	VE231R	Reentry R6	1000	Success
14	19 Jan 1967	VE231G	Reentry G5	1000	Success
15	27 Jan 1967	VE231G	Reentry G6	1000	Success
::

References

Krebs, Gunter D.. "Saphir".
Capdevila, Didier. "Les Constellations et les Pierres Précieuses".
"Saphir VE231".
"The Precious Stones".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::