Atlas III

Atlas III
The maiden flight of the Atlas III
Function Medium expendable Launch vehicle
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin
Country of origin United States
Size
Height 52.8 m (173.2 ft)
Diameter 3.05 m (10 ft)
Mass 214,338 kg (472,338 lb)
Stages 2
Capacity
Payload to LEO IIIA: 8,640 kg (19,040 lb)
IIIB: 10,218 kg (23,630 lb)
Payload to
GTO		 IIIA: 4,055 kg (8,939 lb)
IIIB: 4,500 kg (9,900 lb)
Associated rockets
Family Atlas
Launch history
Status Retired
Launch sites SLC-36B, CCAFS
Total launches 6
(IIIA: 2, IIIB: 4)
Successes 6
(IIIA: 2, IIIB: 4)[1]
First flight IIIA: May 24, 2000
IIIB: February 21, 2002
Last flight IIIA: March 13, 2004
IIIB: February 3, 2005
First stage
Engines 1 RD-180
Thrust 4,148.7 kN (932,670 lbf)
Specific impulse 311 sec
Burn time 132 seconds
Fuel RP-1/LOX
Second stage (Atlas IIIA) Centaur (SEC)
Engines 1 RL-10A
Thrust 99.2 kN (22,290 lbf)
Specific impulse 451 sec
Burn time 738 seconds
Fuel LH2/LOX
Second stage (Atlas IIIB) - Centaur (DEC)
Engines 2 RL-10A
Thrust 147 kN (41,592 lbf)
Specific impulse 449 sec
Burn time 392 seconds
Fuel LH2/LOX

The Lockheed Martin Atlas III (known as the Atlas II-AR (R for Russian) early in development[2]) was an American orbital launch vehicle, used between 2000 and 2005.[3] It was the first member of the Atlas family since the Atlas A to feature a "normal" staging method, compared to the previous Atlas family members, which were equipped with two jettisonable outboard engines on the first (booster) stage (with a single center engine serving as the sustainer).

Description

The Atlas III consisted of two stages. The first stage was new, but the upper stage was the Centaur, which is still in use today on the Atlas V EELV. The first stage engines were Russian RD-180s, which are also used by the Atlas V. The Atlas III was produced in two versions. The baseline was the Atlas IIIA, but the Atlas IIIB, featuring a twin-engine version of the Centaur upper stage, was also produced.[1]

Launches

The maiden flight of the Atlas III occurred on May 24, 2000, launching the Eutelsat W4 communications satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. All Atlas III launches were made from Space Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas III made its sixth and last flight on February 3, 2005, with a classified payload for the United States National Reconnaissance Office.

GX

The GX rocket, formerly under development by Galaxy Express Corporation, was originally intended to use the boost stage of the Atlas III, provided by Lockheed-Martin, and a newly designed upper stage. It would have launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, south of Kyūshū, Japan. In December 2009 the Japanese government decided to cancel the GX project.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Space Launch Report: Atlas III Data Sheet (accessed September 24, 2014)
  2. ↑ "Lockheed Martin Selects RD-180 to Power Atlas IIAR". International Launch Services. January 17, 1996. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Atlas IIIA". Encyclopedia Astronautica.
  4. ↑ "Japan scraps GX rocket development project". iStockAnalyst. December 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
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