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Background Information
- First Launch:
- December 1991
- Flight Rate:
- 4-6 per year (Atlas)
- Launch Site:
- SLC-36A & SLC-36B (CCAS, USA)
- Capability:
- 14,950 lb to LEO; 6,500 lb to GTO
History
- Started in 1950s as Air Force ICBM
- Modified in 1960s for space launches
- Cryogenic Centaur upper stage first launched in 1962
- Atlas II is an uprated version of the Atlas I
Description
- Two and a half stage vehicle
- Two Rocketdyne MA-5A booster engines burn LO2/RP-1 propellant fed from stage 1 tanks, generating a total of 414,400 lb of thrust
- Stage 1 uses one Rocketdyne MA-5A sustainer engine that burns LO2/RP-1, generating 59,000 lb of thrust
- Stage 2 (Centaur) uses two Pratt & Whitney RL10A-3-3A engines that burn LH2/LO2, generating a total of 33,000 lb of thrust
Profile
- Length:
- 150 ft
- Launch Weight:
- 412,600 lb
- Diameter:
- 10 ft
- Liftoff Thrust:
- 473,400 lb
- Payload Fairing:
- 34 ft x 11 ft (14 ft diameter fairing available)
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