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THE MODERN ATLAS PROGRAM BACKGROUND Fact Sheet
Written and Edited by Cliff Lethbridge

With the Space Shuttle fleet originally expected to handle the vast majority of commercial and military satellite delivery missions, a possibility existed that the long-lived Atlas-Centaur rocket program could have been completely phased out by the end of the 1980's.

However, the Challenger tragedy on January 28, 1986 brought about a major restructuring of the U.S. space launch industry. With nearly 30 years of experience and a 95 percent success rate carrying satellites, the Atlas family stood ready to meet the needs of a fertile field.

Not only were a variety of expendable space launch vehicles needed to carry satellites back-logged and remanifested due to the Challenger explosion, a virgin launch industry was created in 1987 when NASA decided to get out of the commercial launch business.

General Dynamics, the successor of Convair, introduced a new generation of Atlas-Centaur rockets to meet new commercial and military needs. The new Atlas family included the Atlas I-Centaur, Atlas II-Centaur, Atlas IIA-Centaur and Atlas IIAS-Centaur.

General Dynamics was eventually purchased by Martin Marietta, which later merged with Lockheed to become Lockheed-Martin. The company's Atlas-Centaur rockets remain in use, enjoying a frequency of about eight launches per year from Cape Canaveral.

With four distinct vehicle options, the modern Atlas-Centaur fleet could handle a wide variety of satellite applications. Each of the four versions of the Atlas-Centaur could fly with either a medium or large payload fairing.

The medium payload fairing is 34 feet tall by 10 feet, 10 inches wide, while the large payload fairing is 40 feet, 1 inch tall by 13 feet, 9 inches wide.

Five different sizes of payload adapters are offered to allow the interface of the payload with the Centaur second stage, enhancing the ability of the Atlas-Centaur fleet to handle a wide variety of satellite configurations.

The smallest of these payload adapters is 37 inches wide by 30 inches tall, while the largest is 66 inches wide by 41 inches tall. A range of payload adapter sizes makes it easier to adapt each rocket for specific satellites, providing cost savings over custom fitting.

Two sizes of Centaur second stages were also available.

The Centaur second stage flown on the Atlas I-Centaur was 30 feet tall by 10 feet wide. This version of the Centaur employed two Pratt and Whitney engines which burn liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen and could produce a combined thrust of 33,000 pounds.

A larger version of the Centaur is flown on the Atlas II-Centaur, Atlas IIA-Centaur and Atlas IIAS-Centaur. This Centaur second stage is 33 feet, 3 inches tall by 10 feet wide. Otherwise similar to the previous Centaur, thrust varies depending on the specific vehicle.

Centaur second stage thrust for the Atlas II-Centaur is 33,300 pounds, upgraded to 44,000 pounds for both the Atlas IIA-Centaur and Atlas IIAS-Centaur. The Centaur engines have multiple re-start capability.

All versions of the modern Atlas-Centaur added an interstage adapter between the Centaur second stage and the rocket's lower stages to provide additional structural support for the vehicles.

Specific sizes, lower stage performance and payload capabilities differed among the four versions of the modern Atlas-Centaur.

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© Copyright 1998 by Clifford J. Lethbridge