Atlas

Atlas, series of American launch vehicles, designed originally as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), that have been in service since the late 1950s.

The Atlas D, the first version deployed, became operational in 1959 as one of the first U.S. ICBMs. (Atlas A, B, and C were experimental versions that never saw active service.) It had a liquid-fueled engine that generated 1,600 kilonewtons (360,000 pounds) of thrust. The missile was radio-inertial guided, was launched aboveground, and had a range of 12,000 km (7,500 miles). The follow-on Atlas E and Atlas F increased thrust to 1,700 kilonewtons (390,000 pounds) and used all-inertial guidance, and they moved from the aboveground launch mode of the D version to horizontal canisters in the E version and finally to silo-stored vertical launch in the F version. The Atlas E carried a two-megaton nuclear warhead, and the Atlas F carried a four-megaton warhead. After the development of the more reliable Minuteman ICBM, these three versions of the Atlas were removed from service as nuclear missiles from 1964 to 1965. Thereafter they were used as launch vehicles for spacecraft. The Atlas D was used for orbital flights in the Mercury program, and the last flight of the series (an Atlas E) took place in 1995.

For much of their design history, Atlas rockets were equipped in a “stage and a half” design with three engines—two boosters that were jettisoned after about 2 1/2 minutes of operation and a sustainer that operated until orbital velocity was attained. The combined Atlas-Agena rocket, featuring an Atlas booster coupled with an Agena upper stage, was used for launching lunar and planetary probes as well as Earth-orbiting satellites, such as Seasat, where the Agena stage was also the spacecraft. The Atlas-Centaur rocket combined an Atlas first stage, which burned kerosene fuel, with a Centaur second stage, fueled with liquid hydrogen; it was the first rocket to use liquid hydrogen as fuel.

Further versions of the Atlas included the SLV-3, a standardized launch vehicle designed for both military and civilian use that operated in various configurations from 1966 to 1983. In the early 1980s, two new launch vehicles, the Atlas G and H, were developed, the difference between the two being that Atlas G used a Centaur upper stage whereas Atlas H had only the Atlas G first stage. The G and H versions were supplanted in the 1990s by Atlas I, derived from the Atlas G but with updated guidance systems, and Atlas II, designed to launch military satellites.

The Atlas III, introduced in 2000, was the last to use the “stage and a half” design. It also used in its first stage a Russian-produced rocket engine, the RD-180, the design of which was based on the RD-170 developed for the Soviet Energia and Zenit launch vehicles. The most recent version, the Atlas V, which entered service in 2002, has little in common with the original ballistic missiles or early space launchers of the same name. The Atlas V also uses an RD-180 engine in its first stage. The Atlas V offers several configurations. This so-called evolved expendable launch vehicle is intended to be a workhorse for U.S. government launches for years to come. Atlas V vehicles can launch payloads weighing up to 20,500 kg (45,200 pounds) to low Earth orbit and up to 3,750 kg (8,250 pounds) to geostationary orbit; a heavier lift version of the Atlas V is also possible.