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Background Information
- First Launch:
- October 1960
- Flight Rate:
- 1-2 per year
- Launch Site:
- SLC-3W (VAFB, USA)
- Capability:
- 1,750 lb to 100 NM polar orbit (no AKM)*
History
- Program started 1945
- First Atlas flight in December 1957
- Derived from Atlas ICBM (D, E, and F)
- Became the standardized U.S. Air Force launch vehicle in 1962
- Progressed into Atlas-Centaur
Description
- One and a half stage vehicle
- Two boosters (stage 1/2) and one sustainer (stage 1)
- Two Rocketdyne MA-3 booster engines burn LO2/RP-1, generating a total thrust of 330,000 lb
- Rocketdyne MA sustainer engine burns LO2/RP-1, generating 60,000 lb of thrust
Profile
- Length:
- 92.3 ft
- Launch Weight:
- 269,000 lb
- Diameter:
- 10 ft
- Liftoff Thrust:
- 390,000 lb
- Payload Fairing:
- 24 ft x 7 ft
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