Search results
The Atlas-Centaur was a United States expendable launch vehicle derived from the SM-65 Atlas D missile. The vehicle featured a Centaur upper stage, the first such stage to use high-performance liquid hydrogen as fuel.
Dec 12, 2012 · NASA had its first successful launch of the first Atlas/Centaur. No payload was carried, but the powerful rocket scored a significant milestone: first in-flight burn of a liquid-hydrogen/liquid-oxygen engine. Major successes followed rapidly.
The first Atlas-Centaur, introduced in 1962, employed the Atlas D missile as first stage and the Convair-developed Centaur as second stage. The Centaur was originally designed to support the launch of the Advent geostationary communications satellite.
The Atlas-Centaur was evolved into the Atlas II, various models of which were launched 63 times between 1991 and 2004. There were only six launches of the succeeding Atlas III, all between 2000 and 2005. The Atlas V is still in service, with launches planned into the mid 2020s.
Launched from Cape Canaveral, Atlas/Centaur (AC-2) was the first successful use of the high-energy liquid hydrogen/ liquid oxygen Centaur upper stage vehicle developed for NASA by General Dynamics. The spent Centaur stage entered orbit.
Nov 13, 2023 · An Atlas-Centaur rocket is at Cape Kennedy’s Pad 36A for a tanking test in preparation for the June 1964 AC-3 launch. Centaur was a 15000-pound thrust second-stage rocket designed for the military in 1957 and 1958 by General Dynamics.
May 24, 2000 · ATLAS IIIA-CENTAUR FACT SHEET. By Cliff Lethbridge. Atlas IIIA-Centaur Launch, Photo Courtesy Lockheed-Martin. Classification: Space Launch Vehicle. Length: 170 feet, 2 inches. Diameter: 10 feet. Date of First Cape Canaveral Launch: May 24, 2000. Date of Final Cape Canaveral Launch: March 13, 2004. Number of Cape Canaveral Launches: 2.
