Rocket Experiments in The Area of Cuxhaven - 1960s

1960s

• On February 11 and February 12, 1961, the first launches of Kumulus rockets with scientific experiments succeeded, and it was possible to follow their progress by radio-tracking.

• In May and June 1961, mail was transported with rockets, for the first time, over a larger distance from the mainland to the islands of Neuwerk and Scharhörn.

• On September 16, 1961, two Kumulus rockets transporting biological experiments were launched. On board one of these rockets was a salamander called Max, and on board the other there was a goldfish called Lotte. Lotte landed safely after the flight, while Max did not survive a hard landing caused by a parachute failure. On the same day the first flight of the sounding rockets Cirrus I and II took place. These rockets reached maximum altitudes of 35 and 50 km, respectively.

• In 1961, the rocket engineer Berthold Seliger founded his rocket construction company Berthold-Seliger-Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, hereafter referred to as BSFEG, and began by launching his self-constructed rockets: the first rockets were only reproductions of the Kumulus, but on November 19, 1962, he launched his first self-developed rockets. These rockets were three single-stage rockets with a length of 3.4 m and a maximum altitude of 40 km. The signals from their on-board transmitters were received from the Bochum observatory. These rockets were completely re-usable, returning to earth after flight by parachute.

• On February 7, 1963, the first flight of Berthold Seliger's two-stage rocket took place. This 6 metre-long rocket reached an altitude of 80 km. Like its single-stage forerunner, its signals could be received at the Bochum observatory. Before it was launched, a single-stage BSFEG rocket was sent up to examine wind conditions in the upper atmosphere.

• On May 2, 1963, Berthold Seliger launched his self-developed three-stage rocket, which reached a maximum height of 110 km, using a reduced amount of propellant.

• From 1957 to 1963, all rocket experiments in the area of Cuxhaven had been purely civilian in nature: however, after their successes, BSFEG began developing rockets with military capability. On December 5, 1963 BSFEG gave a flight demonstration of their products to military representatives from non-NATO states. Although none of these rockets represented a ready for use weapon, and all landed by parachute after their flights, the maximum flight altitude of the rockets had been set to 30 m in conformance with Allied laws concerning the development of military rockets in Germany. Nevertheless there were some diplomatic tensions, especially with the Soviet Union, which feared a development of military rockets in Germany, contrary to Allied regulations. These fears were not unreasonable: the rockets demonstrated on December 5, 1963 could reach as far as 160 km, if they were launched with the maximum amount of fuel.

• Despite these doubts, rocket launches in the area of Cuxhaven continued, and on March 22, 1964, HOG launched ten supply rockets, some of which glided down to a landing.

• On May 7, 1964, during a rocket demonstration by Gerhard Zucker in Braunlage, a deadly accident occurred as one of his mail rockets exploded shortly after its launch and debris fell into the crowd of spectators, who had been allowed too close to the launch pad. Although Gerhard Zucker was not a collaborator with either HOG or BSFEG, all rocket launches with flight altitudes of over 100 meters were forbidden in the area of Cuxhaven after this accident. In contrast to Gerhard Zucker's rockets, which had already caused problems several times before, there had never been any accidents or injuries connected with HOG or BSFEF rocket launches.