OTRAG Rocket.pdf

land had to be developed. The first thing we built, so it was a landing strip for airplanes.
Since late 1976 there was a 2100 m long and up to 40 m wide runway, and it stayed
around 10-20 OTRAG technicians permanently in Shaba. They lived largely in primitive
conditions in tents. Most were not rocket specialists, but masons and carpenters who first
built the launch facilities required. The OTRAG became the major employer for the
sparsely populated area with about 100,000 residents in the 100,000-acre lease area and
employed up to 450 natives. two decommissioned aircraft Argosy material transported to
Zaire. For this purpose they founded a separate subsidiary company called OTRAS
(OTRAG Range Air Service).
In the West, two were criticized on the deal. To be the one with the dictator Mobutu
Kayser took in rather than look for a launch site in a democratically governed country.
Second, there were complaints that the rights had OTRAG in the field, which actually fell
to the only other state such as Residents to relocate. There was talk of "modern
colonialism." What was really behind it was the right Bushmen who approached before
the start of the launch site to take up, and bring them to safety. As the OTRAG should
manage 40 employees an area of 100,000 km ² "colonialist", as some newspapers
speculated, was not answered, however. But in the surrounding states saw it differently
and it began to ferment slowly.
The first launch of a module took place on 5/17/1977. This first rocket had 4 modules of
6 m length. There were massive political pressure on South Africa, East Germany and the
USSR. Pravda and TASS headlines in the autumn of 1977 several times with agitation
against the OTRAG. This would be on behalf of Germany there launchers develop
nuclear weapons and there in the OTRAG Debus worked, who had worked at the A-4 in
Peenemünde, of course, remained the Nazi charge that was used more like the USSR is
not sufficient . Unconfirmed reports that the Soviets are even specially observation
satellite Cosmos 922 and 932 have started to photograph the OTRAG launch site. The
orbits of both satellites led to the best viewing conditions, at least over Zaire. The author
believes it would be much more easily have been operated by the communist-ruled
Angola Nachbartsaat using aircraft reconnaissance and Kayser reported by MIG-23,
flying at low altitude over the launch site.
kayser runway while always stressed that the OTRAG would be inappropriate as a
ballistic missile, because they have insufficient accuracy, would have believed him, this
has none. Also required a OTRAG missile launch preparations extending over several
hours. On a request of the Bundestag Norbert Gansel, the then Federal Government
responded in 1978: "After we realized that the rocket is capable by their design features
not for military purposes.".
In an interview with the magazine "Transatlantic" Kayser revised 1980 this ruling and
stated that the rocket would not immediately ready to start, but much more targeted than a
solid rocket, because they would be taxable.
On the other hand, the OTRAG for Mobutu was so important that arrived on the third