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)
Success(es)	6; (IIIA: 2, IIIB: 4)
First flight	IIIA: 24 May 2000; IIIB: 21 February 2002
Last flight	IIIA: 13 March 2004; IIIB: 3 February 2005
First stage
Engines	1 RD-180
Thrust	4,148.7 kN (932,670 lbf)
Specific impulse	311 sec
Burn time	132 seconds
Propellant	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
Propellant	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
Propellant	LH2/LOX
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Lockheed Martin Atlas III (known as the Atlas II-AR 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 jettisonable engines on the first (sustainer) stage.

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]

References

^ ^a ^b Space Launch Report: Atlas III Data Sheet (accessed 24 Sept. 2014)
^ "Lockheed Martin Selects RD-180 to Power Atlas IIAR". International Launch Services. January 17, 1996. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
^ "Atlas IIIA". Encyclopedia Astronautica.
^ "Japan scraps GX rocket development project". iStockAnalyst. 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2009-12-16.

[datasheet-1] Space Launch Report: Atlas III Data Sheet (accessed 24 Sept. 2014)

[2] "Lockheed Martin Selects RD-180 to Power Atlas IIAR". International Launch Services. January 17, 1996. Retrieved 2013-03-09.

[3] "Atlas IIIA". Encyclopedia Astronautica.

[4] "Japan scraps GX rocket development project". iStockAnalyst. 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2009-12-16.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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 RD-170 rocket engine family
Derivatives	RD-171 RD-180 RD-191 RD-151
Technologies	Bipropellant LOX RP-1 Staged combustion cycle
Historic rockets	Atlas III (RD-180) Energia (RD-170) Naro-1 (RD-151) Zenit (RD-171)
Current rockets	Angara (RD-191) Antares (200-series) (RD-181) Atlas V (RD-180)
Cancelled proposals	GX (RD-180) Rus-M (RD-180)

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

Description

Launches

GX

See also

References