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Rocket sled

Test platform pushed by rockets along a track

A rocket sled is a test platform that slides along a track (e.g. set of rails), propelled by rockets.

Sonic Wind No 1. This rocket sled was ridden by John Paul Stapp in the 1950s.

A rocket sled differs from a rocket car in not using wheels; at high speeds wheels would spin to pieces due to the extreme centrifugal forces. Apart from rare examples running on snow or ice (such as Max Valier's RAK BOBs of the late 1920s and Harry Bull's BR-1 in 1931), most rocket sleds run on a track. Although some rocket sleds ride on single beams or rails, most use a pair of rails. Standard gauge (1.435 m / 56.5 in) is common but sled tracks of narrower or wider gauge also exist. The rail cross-section profile is usually that of a Vignoles rail, commonly used for railroads. Sliding pads, called "slippers", are curved around the head of the rails to prevent the sled from flying off the track. Air cushions and magnetic levitation have also been used as alternatives, with potential benefits including reduced sled vibration.

A rocket sled holds the land-based speed record for a vehicle, at Mach 8.5.

Usage

Rocket sleds were used extensively early in the Cold War to accelerate equipment considered too experimental (hazardous) for testing directly in piloted aircraft. The equipment to be tested under high acceleration or high airspeed conditions was installed along with appropriate instrumentation, data recording and telemetry equipment on the sled. The sled was then accelerated according to the experiment's design requirements for data collection along a length of isolated, precisely level and straight test track. Testing ejection seat systems and technology prior to their use in experimental or operational aircraft was a common application of the rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base. Perhaps the most famous, the tracks at Edwards Air Force Base were used to test missiles, supersonic ejection seats, aircraft shapes and the effects of acceleration and deceleration on humans. The rocket sled track at Edwards Air Force Base was dismantled and used to extend the track at Holloman Air Force Base, taking it to almost 10 miles (16 km) in length.

Unmanned rocket sleds continue to be used to test missile components without requiring costly live missile launches. A world speed record of Mach 8.5 (6,416 mph / 10,325 km/h) was achieved by a four-stage rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base on April 30, 2003, the highest speed ever attained by a land vehicle.

Murphy's law first received public attention during a press conference about rocket sled testing.

Rocket sled tracks

Name	Location	Co-ordinates	Country	Length	Gauge	Rail Type	Welded/
Segmented	Opened	Renovated	Closed	Notes
Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) Rails 1&2	Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM		USA	50,971 ft	84 in	171	Welded	1950	1956, 1957, 1974, 2000, 2002		Runs North-South
Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT)	NAWC-WD Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA		USA	21,550 ft	56.5 in	171	Welded	1953	2006		North-South
Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) Rail 3	Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM		USA	20,200 ft	26.3 in	171	Welded	1974			North-South
Extended High-Speed Rocket Sled Track	Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA		USA	20,000 ft	56.5 in	171	Welded	1949	1959	1963	Also known as South Base Sled Track (SBST). Rails used to lengthen HHSTT
Rail Track Rocket Sled Test Facility	Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory Range, Ramgarh, Haryana		India	3.8 km	0.7 -			1988	2014		5 rails
North/South
Supersonic Military Air Research Track (SMART)	Aircraft Interior Products Propulsion Systems, Hurricane Mesa, UT		USA	12,000 ft	56.5 in	105	Welded	1955		1961*	*Now Privately Owned & Operational.
North-South
Sandia 2	Technical Area III, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM		USA	10,000 ft	0.56 m			1966	1985		North-South
Rocket rail track 3500, FKP GkNIPAS	Beloozyorsky		Russia	3.5 km			Segmented		2014		Formerly RD-2500. Used by Zvezda for ejection seat testing
RT-2650, FKP NII Geodeziya	Krasnoarmeysk		Russia	2650 m		R-75		1956	1984
TsKP MIK of RFNC-VNIIEF	Sarov		Russia	3.0 km
B-4 Transonic Test Track	NAWC-WD Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA		USA	6,800 ft	56.5 in	75	Welded	1940
Martin-Baker Langford Lodge	Langford Lodge, Northern Ireland		UK	6,200 ft	30 in	80		1971			Privately Owned & Operated by Martin-Baker
Pendine Long Test Track (LTT)	QinetiQ, Pendine, Wales		UK	1500 m	12 in	103		1956
author=	date=2013	title=Centres et Moyens d'Essais / COMAERO	trans-title=Test Centres and Facilities	url=http://www.eurosae.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Centres_et_moyens_d_essais_tome_1.pdf	language=French	volume=I	location=Palaiseau	publisher=ONERA	isbn=978-2-7257-0017-5}}	Biscarrosse		France	2.0 km	Monorail	Square Beam	Segmented	1968	1974, ?	(Foundation for 2nd rail in place)
G-4 Exterior and Terminal Ballistics Test Track	NAWC-WD Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA		USA	3,000 ft	33.875 in	171	Welded	1954
ETTC KEMTF sled track	Test Area C-74, Eglin AFB, Ft. Walton Beach, FL		USA	2,000 ft	56.5 in	171	Welded	1956
Sandia 1	Technical Area III, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM		USA	2,000 ft	56.5 in			1951			North-South
Edwards North Base Track "G-Whiz"	Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA		USA	2,000 ft			Welded	1944		1953	Also known as North Base Sled Track (NBST).
East-West
Redstone Test Center Sled Track 1	Test Area 1, Redstone Arsenal, AL		USA	1,900 ft	Monorail			1956			Formerly Redstone Technical Test Center
Pendine Impact Test Track	QinetiQ, Pendine, Wales		UK	400 m	56.5 in
Centre D'essais Des Landes Single Rail R2	Biscarrosse		France	400 m	0.60 m	Square Beam	Segmented	1967			Former HB3 track, moved from CIEES Colomb-Béchar, Algeria
Redstone Test Center Sled Track 2	Test Area 1, Redstone Arsenal, AL		USA	1,200 ft	Monorail						Formerly Redstone Technical Test Center
New Mexico Tech/EMRTC Sled Track	Socorro, NM		USA	1,000 ft	Monorail	171					Privately owned & operated.
North-South
Pendine Short Test Track (STT)	QinetiQ, Pendine, Wales		UK	200 m
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems	Rock Hill, FL		USA	656 ft		I-Beam					Privately Owned & Operated
Alkantpan Rocket Sled Range	Alkantpan Test Range, Copperton, Northern Cape		South Africa	200 m	0.5 m	Single or Double I-beam	Segmented	1985	1999		Runs East to West

Holloman Maglev Track	Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM		USA	2,100 ft							North-South
Germany			Germany			I-Beam
Bundeswehr WTD 91 rocket sled track	Meppen		Germany	830 m
AVIC ALI track	Xiangyang		China	6.0 km	1.435 m		Welded	1993	2006		Also known as XB High Accuracy Rocket Sled Test Track.
Muroran Institute of Technology APReC HSTT	Shiraoi		Japan	300 m	1.435 m			2009
Muroran Institute of Technology APReC SSTT	Shiraoi		Japan	100 m	0.128 m			2008
TÜBİTAK SAGE HABRAS	Karapınar		Turkey	2.0 km				2017

Other former rocket sled tracks include those at the following locations:

Peenemünde, Germany (V-1 launch ramp)
Base B1, Colomb-Béchar, Algeria (HB3 track (330 m) of CIEES, built by Hotchkiss-Brandt)
PISQ, Salto di Quirra, Sardinia, Italy (660-ft supersonic sled track with 8° inclination)
Satory, France
Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, France (used by René Leduc for the SE 1910)
Cazaux Air Base, France (HB1 (200 m) and HB2 (600 m) tracks of the DGA Centre d'essais en vol, built by Hotchkiss-Brandt)
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA
Institute of Aviation Medicine, Farnborough, UK

References

(30 December 2013). "Ein schneller Schlitten". Deutsches Museum.
Winter, Frank H. (1989). "Harry Bull, American Rocket Pioneer". Univelt.
(16 January 2006). "The Fastest Rocket Sled On Earth". impactlab.com.
(30 April 2003). "Test sets world land speed record". www.af.mil.
"Murphy's laws origin". murphys-laws.com.
Bushnell, David. (1959). "Origin and Operation of the First Holloman Track. Volume I. History of Tracks and Track Testing at the Air Force Missile Development Center, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 1949 - 1956". United States Air Force.
(12 May 2014). "SA To RM Inaugurates Unique "RTRS Penta Rail Supersonic Track" at TBRL".
(9 June 2017). "Technology Focus magazine Vol. 25 No. 3, May-June 2017".
(2025-12-02). "DRDO successfully tests fighter escape system at 800 km/h on rocket sled track in Chandigarh".
. (2013). ["Centres et Moyens d'Essais / COMAERO"](http://www.eurosae.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Centres_et_moyens_d_essais_tome_1.pdf). *ONERA*.
Yang, Xingbang. (2000). "XB High Accuracy Rocket Sled Test Track". Engineering Science.
(2012). "50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition".
(1965). "Progress in Rocket, Missile, and Space Carrier Vehicle Testing, Launching, and Tracking Technology".
(2008). "Recollections of Aeromedical Flying Trials". Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal.

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