Atlas SLV-3

Atlas SLV-3
Function	Sounding rocket; Expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Convair Division of; General Dynamics
Country of origin	United States
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Kennedy, LC-14; Vandenberg, SLC-3E
Total launches	5
Success(es)	3
Failure(s)	2
First flight	1 June 1966
Last flight	16 August 1968
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Atlas SLV-3, or SLV-3 Atlas was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas / SM-65D Atlas missile. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets.

The Atlas SLV-3 was a stage and a half rocket, built as a standardized replacement for earlier Atlas launch systems, which had been derived from the various Atlas missiles.^[1]

Most space launcher variants of the Atlas up to 1965 were derived from the D-series Atlas ICBM with custom modifications for the needs of the particular mission. The SLV-3 would use a standardized configuration based on the Atlas D missile for all launches with the exception of different widths for the top of the rocket depending on the upper stage being flown.

The SLV-3 had thicker gauge tank walls to support the weight of upper stages as well as upgraded engines and removal of unneeded ICBM hardware such as retrorockets. Although the main engines had greater thrust, the verniers were detuned slightly in the interest of improved ISP (vacuum specific impulse).

Variants of the SLV-3 flew until 2005 when the legacy Atlas was retired from service and replaced by the Atlas V, a completely new vehicle with conventional aircraft-style construction and different engines.

Versions

The following versions of the launch system were produced:^[2]^[3]

Baseline

The standard Atlas-Agena vehicle is best known for launching the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) in support of the Gemini 9A mission. This occurred on 1 June 1966, and was the first flight of the Atlas SLV-3 as an independent vehicle.^[4] The ATDA failed because the payload shroud did not detach.

The rocket was also used for three suborbital tests of X-23 PRIME reentry vehicles. A leftover SLV-3 from the PRIME program was used to launch a collection of small scientific satellites from VAFB's SLC-3E on August 16, 1968.

Most Atlas-Agena SLV-3s were used for classified DoD payloads, especially KH-7 GAMBIT.

A Burner II upper stage could be used to increase payload.^[5]

Thrust (pounds): 389,000
Booster ISP: 252.5
Sustainer ISP: 214.2
Vernier ISP: 190.9/237.7
Main impulse propellants (pounds): 246,549
Launch weight (pounds): 260,928
Booster jettison weight (pounds): 7,368
Sustainer jettison weight (pounds): 6,569

Revision A

SLV-3A was the baseline SLV-3 with extended propellant tanks for longer burn time. It was used to launch OGO-3 in 1968, all remaining launches being classified Aquacade (satellite) (Canyon/Rhyolite) SIGINT satellites. All launches took place from LC-13 at CCAS.

Revision B

SLV-3B was a one-off Atlas used to launch the first OAO satellite, which consisted of the SLV-3C Atlas with the Agena and payload enclosed in a full-width fairing.

Revision C

SLV-3C was the standard Atlas-Centaur booster, without the tapered forward section to accommodate the smaller Agena stage.

Atlas SLV-3D

SLV-3D had the same Atlas core as SLV-3C, with an enhanced Centaur stage.

References

^ Encyclopedia Astronautica - Atlas
^ "Atlas Family".
^ "Advanced Atlas Launch Vehicle DIGEST" (PDF). Convair Division of General Dynamics. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
^ "On The Shoulders of Titans - Chap. 14". Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
^ Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-SLV3 Burner-2

External links

NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive Gemini 9 Target B

[EA-1] Encyclopedia Astronautica - Atlas

[2] "Atlas Family".

[3] "Advanced Atlas Launch Vehicle DIGEST" (PDF). Convair Division of General Dynamics. Retrieved November 5, 2022.

[titans146-4] "On The Shoulders of Titans - Chap. 14". Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2011.

[5] Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-SLV3 Burner-2

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL RS1^† SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I MLV New Glenn Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage