Europa rocket

The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which was the precursor to the European Space Agency and its Ariane family of launchers. The program was initiated by the UK and the first launch occurred in August 1967. The Europa program was a total failure.

Tasks were to be distributed between nations: the United Kingdom would provide the first stage, France would build the second and Germany the third stage.

The Europa program was divided into 3 successive projects :

• Europa 1: 4 unsuccessful launches
• Europa 2: 1 unsuccessful launch
• Europa 3: Cancelled before any launch occurred