Rubis (rocket)

The VE 210 Rubis, named for the French word for ruby, was a two-stage French rocket and one of the five prototypes of the Pierres precieuses (gemstones) programme that also included Agate, Topaze, Emeraude and Saphir and led up to the Diamant orbital launcher. Its code VE 210 identifies an experimental vehicle (Vehicule Experimental) with two stages, solid propellant and no guidance. The Rubis was flown to test technologies that the Diamant would later use, and it also carried scientific instruments aloft for the Paris Observatory and the Max Planck Institute. It used the same NA801 Mammouth solid propellant motor as the single-stage Agate. In the programme it sits between the simple unguided solid rockets and the guided, mixed-propellant Saphir that came closest to the final Diamant design.