Atlas at sixty - America’s workhorse launcher celebrates sixty years of accomplishments, history.
America’s longest-flying booster family celebrated 60 years of heritage June 11, six decades after the rocket’s maiden flight. Although the flight of Atlas 4A was unsuccessful, it marked the beginning of a crucial role in America’s space history.
Three variants of the Atlas were developed to test out the vehicle’s systems; Atlas A, making eight launches from 1957-58, featured only the two outboard engines and was nearly two-thirds less powerful than the Atlas D.
Atlas B, making ten flights from 1958-1959, featured three engines and numerous systems not present on the prototype Atlas V. The launch of the world’s first communications satellite - SCORE - on November 29, 1958, was the first space launch ever performed by the Atlas family.
Atlas C only flew six times from 1958-1959 as it tested out improvements made to its engines.
The first Atlas variant to enter operational service was the Atlas D in 1959. Over 145 launches were made from 1959-1967 including nine made for NASA’s Mercury program. The Atlas Ds man-rated for Project Mercury were given a designation of LV-3B.
Atlas E was the first booster to have autonomous guidance systems; previous variants were radio controlled from ground stations. Forty-eight flights were made between 1960 - 1995.
Atlas F featured slight modifications to the booster’s launch umbilicals and improved guidance systems; the rocket flew 70 times between 1961-1981.
While many Atlas D, E, and F rockets were refurbished for use as launch vehicles following their end of service in 1965, various rockets were attached to the booster to create a two-stage space launch vehicle. Rockets such as Atlas-Able, Atlas-Agena, and Atlas Centaur lofted many of America’s famous satellites into orbit including the Ranger and Mariner probes, Agena docking vehicles for the Gemini program, and countless satellites. In order to improve the vehicle beyond their original design parameters, the Atlas I vehicle was introduced in 1991 with improved engines and longer fuel tanks. Eleven flights were made between 1990-1997. Atlas II featured greater engine performance and even longer propellant takes and quickly fell into the workhorse Atlas launcher, making 63 flights - all successful - from 1991-2004.
With the development of the Atlas V underway, the Atlas III tested out numerous systems ahead of that rocket's debut. The classic stage-and-a-half design was replaced with a single, Russian-made RD-180 engine. Six flights were made from 2004-2005.
The current member of the Atlas family, the Atlas V, became operational in 2002 right as other heritage launch vehicles were retired. As such, the Atlas V has become the new workhorse of the American launcher fleet, flying 71 missions as of June 2017.
Watch a video on the Atlas rocket’s history below. Video credit: ULA.