This rocket article contains payload capacity, but does not include orbital altitude or inclination, which greatly affects the capacity. |
Function | Expendable launch system |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Convair General Dynamics |
Country of origin | United States |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | SLC-3E, Vandenberg |
Total launches | 5 |
Success(es) | 5 |
First flight | 9 February 1983 |
Last flight | 15 May 1987 |
Boosters | |
No. boosters | 1 |
Powered by | 2 LR-89-7 |
Total thrust | 1,901.6 kN (427,500 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 293.4 s |
Burn time | 155 seconds |
Propellant | RP-1/LOX |
First stage | |
Powered by | 1 LR-105-7 |
Maximum thrust | 386.4 kN (86,900 lbf) Atlas D |
Specific impulse | 316 s |
Burn time | 266 seconds |
Propellant | RP-1/LOX |
The Atlas H was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas missile.[1] It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used to launch five clusters of NOSS satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office.[1] Two flights also carried LiPS satellites, as secondary payloads for the United States Naval Research Laboratory.[1]
The Atlas H was a stage and a half rocket, using the enhanced Atlas rocket designed for use as the first stage of the Atlas G rocket,[2] which differed from the Atlas H in having a Centaur upper stage. This stage was later reused as the first stage of the Atlas I. In practice, an MSD upper stage was flown on all five launches.[3]
Atlas H could put a payload of 3,630 kg (8,000 lb) into low Earth orbit, or a payload of 2,255 kg (4,971 lb) into a geostationary transfer orbit.[1]