Véronique was a French liquid-fuelled sounding rocket of the 1950s. It was the first liquid-fuel research rocket in Western Europe. Véronique was a French-led project that had its roots in the German V-2 rocket, and was partially developed by German scientists who had worked in Peenemünde. It was a successor to the cancelled Super V-2, the Véronique was built between 1950 and 1969 in several versions, of which the versions P2, P6 and R were only experimental models. They were made in Vernon, Eure. The name Veronique is a portmanteau of Vernon-électronique, and is also a common French first name. On 20 February 1959, the first Véronique launch was performed, although it was recorded as a failure. One day later, the second launch took place, which attained an altitude of . The last Veronique-61 was launched on 31 May 1974. The programme was eclipsed by new rockets, such as the wholly indigenous Diamant launcher. History Background In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, various nations were keen to incorporate recent military advances into their own armed forces; the newly liberated nation of France was no exception. Akin to the American's Operation Paperclip, France recruited various scientists and skilled personnel from the former Axis countries, particularly those with knowledge of advanced aerospace technologies. Amongst these were in excess of 30 staff that had formerly worked at Peenemünde, the hub of the Nazi German rocket programme that produced the V-2 rocket. During mid-1946, France embarked on development of a V-2 derivative, popularly referred to as the Super V-2. This programme involved two distinct phases, the first being the establishment of appropriate facilities to produce V-2 components – this was partially achieved via the acquisition of most of the components for roughly 30 V-2s, either from subcontractors in France or sourced from the French zone of occupation in Germany. Surveys for a suitable launch facility in Algeria were also conducted, opting for a site near Colomb-Bechar. However, major problems with the Super V-2 programme had become clear by early 1947. France's allies were unwilling to supply V-2 components, yet establishing a completely independent production of all components in France was estimated to take at least five years, by which point the Super V-2 was expected to have become obsolete. Thus, it was decided that two separate programmes would be pursued; in addition to work on the Super V-2, a purely French