El Arenosillo Test Centre (CEDEA) is the name of a rocket launch site for suborbital rockets managed by INTA, located in Moguer (Spain).[2][3][4] It is located in the province of Huelva, Andalucía, in the southwest coast of Spain (37.1° N, 6.7° W).[5] CEDEA is adjacent to the Center of Excellence for Unmanned Systems (CEUS).
1Mw VITRO RIR 778C mobile path radar with destruction command
Three autonomous mobile optronic stations, MSP 2000, equipped with IR, TV, cinema and radar sensors (3D, high precision and with telemetric capabilities)
Weather center with real-time information, satellite data reception and complete radiosonde system
Control center where all the information necessary for the supervision and monitoring of a launching operation (air traffic control, meteorology, cartography, sensor data integration, flight safety, etc.) is centralized.
Evaluation center: preparation, analysis and evaluation of reports
Two high speed cameras (10000 images/s)
Complementing the above, the Center also has:
Meteorological laboratory and probe balloons
Presentation and conference room
Telemetry, radar and optronic workshops
Mechanical workshop, electrical workshop, sanitary service and warehouses
Accommodation service for operations
Laboratory for photographic processing
In 2017 part of the equipment was damaged in a wildfire. In the years 2018 and 2019 INTA has dedicated part of its budget to replace damaged equipment.
Padsedit
Incomplete list of launch pads:
Nike – 37°05′52″N6°44′14″W / 37.0978°N 6.7372°W / 37.0978; -6.7372 (Nike) Operational. Based on a modified Nike Hercules system
Sermiat – Unoperational. Used for Centaure rockets
Médano del Loro – Operational. Is an adjacent launch site managed by Spanish Army
All rockets for atmospheric soundings in Spain are launched from El Arenosillo.
In 2015 Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering broke the European altitude record for amateur rocketry by launching the Stratos II+ rocket to 21.5 km altitude from El Arenosillo.[9][10]
On 1 March 2017, Zero 2 Infinity tested its first rocket, a Bloostar prototype, in El Arenosillo.[11] A balloon took Bloostar to 25 km. At 25 km the ignition of the rocket took place. Thegoals of the mission were: (i) validation of the telemetry systems in Space conditions, (ii) controlled ignition, (iii) stabilization of the rocket, (iv) monitoring of the launch sequence, (v) parachute deployment, and finally, (vi) sea recovery. All these goals were achieved in full.[12]
^International Aerospace Abstracts. Technical Information Service, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 1970.
^"Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
^ ab"El Arenosillo". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^ abHuelva, Diario de (30 July 2022). "El INTA pone a Huelva en la lanzadera aeroespacial". Diario de Huelva (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^A. Méndez-Vilas (21 November 2005). Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Applied Physics: Proceedings of the First International Meeting on Applied Physics (APHYS 2003) October 13–18th, 2003, Badajoz, Spain. Elsevier. pp. 173–. ISBN 978-0-08-044648-6.
^"BOOTES-1 History - BOOTES". 10 October 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
^"ABC MADRID 16-10-1966 página 63 - Archivo ABC". 12 August 2019.
^"El Arenosillo". Archived from the original on 4 September 2003.
^ ab"Stratos V – Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering". dare.tudelft.nl. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^"El runrún: El Arenosillo mira al espacio | Huelva24 | Toda la información y noticias de Huelva".
^"Zero 2 Infinity Successfully Launches its First Rocket from the Edge of Space – Z2I". Z2I. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
^ abMárquez, Beatriz (7 October 2023). "El INTA ya tiene todo listo para el lanzamiento de Miura-1 de PLD Space" [INTA already has everything ready for the launch of Miura-1 from PLD Space]. infoespecial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
^ ab"PLD Space successfully completes first private space rocket launch in Europe". PLD Space. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^ ab"Spain's MIURA 1 launch campaign kicks off". PLD Space (Press release). 3 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
^Rivera, Alicia (7 April 1992). "Lanzado con éxito el cohete lanzador español 'Inta-100' | Sociedad | EL PAÍS". El País.
^"El Centro de El Arenosillo celebra su 50 aniversario dedicando un monumento al cohete INTA 300 B - Huelva Buenas Noticias".