Orión was the designation of a sounding rocket of Argentina, which was started between 1965 and 1971 at CELPA, Mar Chiquita, Tartagal and Wallops Island. In November 1966, three tests of the Argentine-built Orion rockets took place. Developed by the Instituto de Investigaciones Aeronauticas y Espaciales (IIAE), Orión marked Argentina's entry into the club of space-faring nations. The Orión-2 had a gross takeoff mass of and could carry a payload. Its dimensions were in length and in diameter. It could reach a ceiling of . The first version Orión-1 was flown twice in 1965 and 1966 in order to test the engines and technologies; with a length of it was limited to a payload. The production version Orión-2 was launched 22 times from 1966 to 1971. References Sounding rockets of Argentina Space programme of Argentina Solid-fuel rockets