Atlas V

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Atlas V
Launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 11:43:00 AM GMT August 12, 2005 on the first Atlas V rocket used by NASA. The rocket is in the 401 configuration.
Launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 11:43:00 AM GMT August 12, 2005 on the first Atlas V rocket used by NASA. The rocket is in the 401 configuration.
Fact sheet
Function EELV/Medium-heavy launch vehicle
Manufacturer United Launch Alliance
Country of origin USA
Size
Height 58.3 m (191.2 ft)
Diameter 3.81 m (12.49 ft)
Mass 546,700 kg (1,205,200 lb)
Stages 2
Capacity
Payload to LEO 10,300 - 20,050 kg
Payload to
GTO
4,100 - 8,200 kg
Launch History
Status Active
Launch Sites LC-41, CCAFS
SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB
Total launches 8
For breakdown by variant, see text
Successes 8
Maiden flight 21 August 2002
Notable payloads Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
New Horizons
Boosters (Not Heavy) - Aerojet
No boosters 1 to 5 (see text)
Engines 1 Solid
Thrust 1,270 kN (4,152 kN)
Specific Impulse 275 sec
Burn time 94 seconds
Fuel Solid
Boosters (Atlas V Heavy (5HX)) - Atlas CCB
No boosters 2
Engines 1 RD-180
Thrust (933,406 lbf)
Specific Impulse 311 sec
Burn time 253 seconds
Fuel RP-1/LOX
First Stage - Atlas CCB
Engines 1 RD-180
Thrust 4,152 kN (933,406 lbf)
Specific Impulse 311 sec
Burn time 253 seconds
Fuel RP-1/LOX
Second Stage (Atlas V XX1) - Centaur
Engines 1 RL-10A
Thrust 99.2 kN (22,290 lbf)
Specific Impulse 451 sec
Burn time 842 seconds
Fuel LH2/LOX
Second Stage (Atlas V XX2) - Centaur
Engines 2 RL-10A
Thrust 147 kN (22,290 lbf)
Specific Impulse 449 sec
Burn time 421 seconds
Fuel LH2/LOX
For the boat, see Atlas V (boat).

Atlas V is a launch vehicle formerly built by Lockheed Martin and now built by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance. It consists of a kerosene-liquid oxygen powered booster which retains the name Atlas and the liquid hydrogen - liquid oxygen powered Centaur upper stage. Together they are referred to as the Atlas launch vehicle or Atlas V. The Atlas V is the newest version of Atlas, and is a direct evolution from the previous Atlas II and especially the Atlas III vehicles. Most propulsion, avionic and structural elements are either identical to or straightforward derivations of those used on the previous vehicles. The most obvious external change is to the booster tanks which no longer use 10 foot diameter, stainless steel monocoque, common intermediate bulkhead "balloon" construction nor 1.5 staging, but instead use a 12.5 foot diameter welded aluminum alloy constuction first stage much like the Titan family of vehicles or Shuttle External Tank.

The Atlas V was developed by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services as part of the US Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The term "expendable launch vehicle" means it is only used once. Launches are from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. In addition, Space Launch Complex 3 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base is being prepared for future polar launches.

All eight Atlas V launches to date have been successful. The Atlas V family uses a single-stage Atlas main engine, the Russian RD-180 and the newly developed Common Core Booster (CCB) with up to five strap-on solid rocket boosters. The CCB is 12.5 ft (3.8 m) in diameter by 106.6 ft (32.5 m) long and uses 627,105 lb (284,450 kg) of liquid oxygen and RP-1 rocket fuel propellants. The booster operates for about four minutes, providing about 4 meganewtons (900,000 lbf) of thrust at start.

The Centaur upper stage uses a pressure stabilized propellant tank design and cryogenic propellants. The Centaur stage for Atlas V is stretched 5.5 ft (1.68 m) and is powered by either one or two Pratt & Whitney RL10A-4-2 engines, each engine developing a thrust of 99.2 kN (22,300 lbf). Operational and reliability upgrades are enabled with the RL10A-4-2 engine configuration. The inertial navigation unit (INU) located on the Centaur provides guidance and navigation for both Atlas and Centaur, and controls both Atlas and Centaur tank pressures and propellant use. The Centaur engines are capable of multiple in-space starts, making possible insertion into low-earth parking orbit, followed by a coast period and then insertion into GTO. A subsequent third burn following a multi-hour coast can permit direct injection of payloads into geostationary orbit. The Centaur vehicle has the highest proportion of burnable propellant relative to total mass of any modern upper stage and hence can deliver substantial payloads to a high energy state.

Many systems on the Atlas V have been the subject of upgrade and enhancement both prior to the first Atlas V flight and since that time. An upgrade to a Fault Tolerant INU (FTINU) was recently made to enhance mission reliability for Atlas vehicles.

The Atlas V-Heavy or HLV configuration is available 30 months from order. It would use three CCB stages strapped together to provide the capability necessary to lift the heaviest spacecraft. Approximately 95% of the hardware required for the Atlas HLV has already been flown on the Atlas V single core vehicles.

On Atlas V, in addition to the classic 4-meter payload fairing used since the Atlas II, Lockheed Martin introduced a 5-meter (4.57 meters usable) Contraves payload fairing. The Contraves fairing is a composite design and is based on flight proven hardware. Three configurations will be manufactured to support Atlas V. The short and medium length configurations will be used on the Atlas V 500 series. The long configuration will be used on the Atlas V-Heavy. [1] The classic fairing covers only the payload, leaving the Centaur stage exposed to open air. With the Contraves fairing, the Centaur is enclosed within the fairing as well as the payload.


Contents

[edit] Versions

Core stage of an Atlas V being raised to a vertical position.
Enlarge
Core stage of an Atlas V being raised to a vertical position.

Each Atlas booster has a three digit version designation that is determined by the features of the rocket. The first digit is the diameter (in meters) of the nosecone fairing, and is always either Three, four or five. The second digit is the number of solid rocket boosters attached to the base of the rocket, and can number anywhere from zero through three with the 4-m fairing and zero through five with the 5-m fairing. The third digit is the number of engines on the Centaur stage, either one or two. Single-engine Centaurs are typically used for satellites going to geostationary transfer orbit or reaching escape velocity. Dual engine Centaurs are typically used for satellites reaching low Earth orbit.

For example, if the Atlas V version is 552, this means that the fairing is five meters, has five solid rocket boosters, and has two Centaur engines.

If the Atlas V version is 431, this means that the fairing is four meters, has three solid rocket boosters, and has a single Centaur engine.

Comparable rockets: Delta IV - Ariane 5 - Chang Zheng 5 - Angara - Proton - Falcon 9


An agreement between Lockheed and Bigelow Aerospace in September 2006 could lead to a man-rated version of the Atlas V to tap into the potential space tourism market.

[edit] Versions

The MRO Spaceprobe lauches on August the 12. 2005 at 11:43 UTC to the Planet Mars onboard an Atlas V 401 Launch Vehicle.
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The MRO Spaceprobe lauches on August the 12. 2005 at 11:43 UTC to the Planet Mars onboard an Atlas V 401 Launch Vehicle.

List Date: January 19, 2006

Version Booster Upper stage Fairing Payload to LEO Payload to GTO Launches to date
401 - SEC 4 m - 4951 kg 3
402 - DEC 4 m 12500 kg - 0
411 1 SEC 4 m - 5951 kg 1
421 2 SEC 4 m - 6832 kg 0
431 3 SEC 4 m - 7642 kg 1
501 - SEC 5 m - 3971 kg 0
502 - DEC 5 m 10300 kg - 0
511 1 SEC 5 m - 5271 kg 0
512 1 DEC 5 m 12050 kg - 0
521 2 SEC 5 m - 6287 kg 2
522 2 DEC 5 m 13950 kg - 0
531 3 SEC 5 m - 7202 kg 0
532 3 DEC 5 m 17250 kg - 0
541 4 SEC 5 m - 7982 kg 0
542 4 DEC 5 m 18750 kg - 0
551 5 SEC 5 m - 8672 kg 1
552 5 DEC 5 m 20050 kg - 0
Heavy (HLV (5H1)) 2 CCB SEC 5 m - 13605 kg 0
Heavy (HLV DEC (5H2)) 2 CCB DEC 5 m 25000 kg - 0

[edit] Atlas V Launches

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For more details on this topic, see Atlas V Launches.

[edit] Past launches

An Atlas V 551 with the New Horizons Deep Space Probe launches from Lauch Pad 41 in Cape Canaveral.
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An Atlas V 551 with the New Horizons Deep Space Probe launches from Lauch Pad 41 in Cape Canaveral.

List Date: April 2006

Date Type Serial-no. Startplace Payload Kind of payload Orbit Outcome Remarks
August 21, 2002 401 AV-001 CC LC41 Hot Bird 6 Commercial communications satellite GSO Success First Atlas V launch
May 13 2003 401 AV-002 CC LC41 HellasSat 2 Commercial communications satellite GSO Success
July 17, 2003 521 AV-003 CC LC41 Rainbow 1 Commercial communications satellite GSO Success First Atlas V 500 launch
December 17, 2004 521 AV-005 CC LC41 AMC 16 Commercial communications satellite GSO Success
March 11, 2005 431 AV-004 CC LC41 Inmarsat 4-F1 Commercial communications satellite GSO Success
August 12, 2005 401 AV-007 CC LC41 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars orbiter escape Success First Atlas V launch for NASA
January 19, 2006 551 AV-010 CC LC41 New Horizons Pluto and Kuiper Belt probe escape Success Boeing Star 48B third stage used, first Atlas V launch with a third stage
April 20, 2006 411 AV-008 CC LC41 ASTRA 1KR Commercial communications satellite GSO Success Final Atlas commercial launch for ILS

[edit] Planned launches

List Date: June 07, 2006

Date Type Serial-no. Launch site Payload Kind of payload Remarks
2006 411 AV-006 VAFB SLC-3E Classified NRO Reconnaissance satellite First Atlas V launch from Vandenberg
October 2006 401 AV-013 CC LC41 Space Test Program-1 7 military research satellites
Late 2007 401 - VAFB SLC-3E DMSP-18 Military weather satellite
2008 401 - CC LC41 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite Lunar orbit and Lunar impactor Press release
Late 2009 541 - CC LC41 Mars Science Laboratory Mars rover Press release

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