On 22 April 2001, the 4th Maxus sounding rocket was launched from the ESRANGE range in Northern Sweden. Maxus is Europe's biggest sounding rocket, providing experiments with more than 12 minutes of microgravity. Today's transmission outlines the raison d'?tre of such launches from near the polar circle, and illustrates the last launch preparations. It also includes, for the first timne, time lapse recordings of an ESA sounding rocket launch.
The 4-minute A-roll contains split audio with an English guide track and is complemented by a B-roll.

MAXUS 4 : ESA'S MOST POWERFUL SOUNDING ROCKET
TC 10:00:40
Kiruna in northern Sweden. On 29 April 2001, Maxus 4 was launched. Maxus is the largest sounding rocket ever to lift off from European soil.
TC 10:00:52
The rocket's scientific payload is assembled in this integration hall. The purpose of a sounding rocket mission is to create a microgravity environment for experiments on board during the few minutes as the rocket free-falls after propulsion has ended.
Seven different experiments were conducted under microgravity conditions during the Maxus 4 flight, some of them controlled remotely from the ground. The payload weighed in at a hefty 800 kg.
TC 10:01:20 Soundbite : Wolfgang Herfs, ESA Sounding Rocket Project Manager
Maxus 4 is Europe's most powerful sounding rocket.
It takes its payload up to a maximum height of 700 km, giving twelve and a half minutes of weightlessness for conducting experiments under absence of gravity conditions.
Other types of sounding rockets, which are laun