A small rocket system used for extending observations of the atmosphere above feasible limits for balloon-borne and telemetering instruments. Synoptic exploration of the middle-atmospheric circulation (20–95 km or 12–60 mi altitude) through use of these systems (also known as rocketsondes) matured in the 1960s into a highly productive source of information on atmospheric structure and dynamics. Many thousands of small meteorological rockets have been launched in a coordinated investigation of the wind field and the temperature and ozone structures in the middle atmosphere region at 25–55 km (16–34 mi) altitude.