Centaure was a two-stage French sounding rocket consisting of a Venus first stage and a Belier second stage.

[3][4][5] It belongs to a family of solid-propellant rockets consisting of the Belier, Centaure, Dragon, Dauphin, and Eridan.

[4][5] It was operated by Sud-Aviation between 1961 and 1986.

[3][5][6] Centaure rockets were launched from the CIEES/Hammaguir missile range, Reggane, CELPA, Salto di Quirra, Esrange, Thumba, Sonmiani, and Andøya.

[5] It had a maximum payload of 60 kg, an apogee of 130-146 km,[5] a launch thrust of 44 kN, a launch weight of 500-600 kg, a diameter of 0.28 m and a length of 5.9-6.3 m. There were various versions of Centaure rockets:[4][6][7][8][9][10] A large number of Centaure rockets was launched between 1961 and 1986:[6][7][8][9][10]