Agate (rocket)

The VE 110 Agate was an unguided French test rocket developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was one of the five prototypes of the Pierres precieuses (gemstones) programme, alongside Topaze, Emeraude, Rubis and Saphir, which led up to the Diamant orbital launcher. Its designation follows the French Vehicule Experimental scheme: the code VE 110 marks an experimental vehicle with one stage, solid propulsion and no guidance. The Agate stood 8.50 metres long and 0.80 metres across, weighed about 3.2 tonnes at launch and produced roughly 186 kilonewtons of thrust at takeoff, reaching a ceiling of about 20 kilometres. It burned the NA801 Mammouth solid propellant motor, the same motor later used on the Rubis. A VE 110RR version was flown to develop procedures for recovering a rocket at sea.