Rocket & Balloon Experiments for University Students

REXUS - BEXUS

The REXUS-BEXUS programme is a joint project between the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and the Mobile Rocket Base (Moraba) of the German Aerospace Center DLR. The campaign is conducted by EuroLaunch in close cooperation with the students.

The REXUS and BEXUS programmes offer opportunities for student experiments to be flown on sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons.
Each flight will carry a payload consisting solely of student experiments. Half the payload is available to German students through a DLR Announcement of Opportunity and the other half is made available to students from all other ESA Member States and Co-operating States by the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB) through a collaboration with ESA.

REXUS experiments are launched from Esrange on a rocket powered by an Improved Orion Motor with 290 kg of propellant. It is capable of taking 40 kg of student experiment modules to an altitude of approximately 100 km.

BEXUS experiments are lifted by balloon from Esrange to an altitude of 20-35 km, depending on total experiment mass (40-100 kg). The balloon has a volume of 12 000 m³ and the experiments are hanging 65-100 m below the balloon.

Esrange Space Center is located outside the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden.

DLR
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt/ German Aerospace Center. DLR is Germany's national research centre for aeronautics and space. www.dlr.de

SNSB
Swedish National Space Board, SNSB, is a central governmental agency under the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communication. www.snsb.se

Eurolaunch
EuroLaunch, a cooperation built on the competences of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and DLR R&D. Eurolaunch is responsible for implementing the Rexus Bexus programme. www.eurolaunch.org

ESA Education
ESA Education Office coordinates education activities to help young Europeans, aged from 6 to 28, to gain and maintain an interest in science and technology. www.esa.int/education