The REXUS and BEXUS programmes offer opportunities for student experiments to be flown on sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons. Each flight carries a payload consisting solely of student experiments.
The REXUS / BEXUS programme is realised under a bilateral Agency Agreement between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). The Swedish share of the payload has been made available to students from other European countries through a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).
EuroLaunch, a cooperation between the Esrange Space Center of SSC and the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) of DLR, is responsible for the campaign management and operations of the launch vehicles. Experts from DLR, SSC, ZARM and ESA provide technical and logistic support to the student teams throughout the project.
REXUS is an unguided, spin-stabilised, solid-propellant, single stage rocket. The vehicle has a length of about 5.6 m and a diameter of 35.6 cm and the total available mass for student experiments is about 40 kg. Around two minutes of reduced gravity can be obtained if the rocket is despun.
The BEXUS balloon has a volume of 12,000 m³ and a diameter of 14m when filled. The total mass available for the experiments is between 40 and 100 kg. The maximum altitude is around 25 km and the flight duration is 2-5 hours.
For more information, please visit the REXUS/BEXUS website and the DLR REXUS/BEXUS webpages.
Quick Facts
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Project: |
Rocket & Balloon Experiments for University Students |
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Level: |
University |
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Status REXUS: |
REXUS 25/26 teams selected in December 2017, for launch in March 2019 |
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Status BEXUS: |
BEXUS 26/27 teams selected in December 2017 for launch in October 2018 |
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Contact: |
Alex Kinnaird, rexus-bexus @ esa.int |
REXUS video
Sequences extracted from the REXUS 11 and 12 campaign (March 2012) in Kiruna, Sweden.
BEXUS video
Sequences extracted from the BEXUS 14 and 15 campaign (September 2012) in Kiruna, Sweden.
Access the video
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English