Atlas V

Atlas V is an orbital launch vehicle used by the United Launch Alliance (made of two companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin) to place satellites into orbit. It is a rocket 58.3 metres (191 feet) tall, and 3.81 metres (12.5 feet) wide. It has flown 79 times, since its first flight on August 21, 2002. It was developed from the Atlas (missile). Unlike the Space Shuttle, Atlas V is only used once, with a new rocket being built for each flight.

Atlas V
American expendable launch system
Launch of an Atlas V 401 carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS space probes on June 18, 2009
Has use	EELV/medium-heavy launch vehicle
Manufacturer	United Launch Alliance
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	US$110 million in 2016
Size
Height	58.3 m (191 ft)
Diameter	3.81 m (12.5 ft)
Mass	590,000 kg (1,300,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	8,250–20,520 kg (18,190–45,240 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	4,750–8,900 kg (10,470–19,620 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Atlas (rocket family)
Comparable	Delta IV Falcon 9 H-IIB Long March 3B Proton-M
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral SLC-41
Total launches	97 (401: 41, 411: 6, 421: 9 431: 3) (501: 7, 521: 2, 531: 5, 541: 9, 551: 12, N22: 2)
Success(es)	95 (401: 39, 411: 6, 421: 9, 431: 3) (501: 7, 521: 2, 531: 5, 541: 9, 551: 12 N22: 2)
Partial failure(s)	2 (401 – low orbit, customer declared success)
First flight	21 August 2002 (Hot Bird 6)
Last flight	10 November 2022 (JPSS-2, LOFTID)
Type of passengers/cargo	Curiosity InSight Juno LRO / LCROSS MMS MRO MAVEN New Horizons OSIRIS-REx Solar Dynamics Observatory Van Allen Probes Boeing X-37B Cygnus Starliner GOES TDRS NRO classified payloads Intruder Quasar SBIRS Topaz Landsat LOFTID JPSS-2
Boosters – AJ-60A
No. boosters	0 to 5
Height	17.0 m (669 in)
Diameter	1.6 m (62 in)
Gross mass	46,697 kg (102,949 lb)
Propellant mass	42,630 kg (93,980 lb)
Powered by	RD-180 RL-10A-4-2 AJ-60A Graphite-Epoxy Motor
Maximum thrust	1,688.4 kN (379,600 lbf)
Specific impulse	279.3 s (2.739 km/s)
Burn time	94 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
First stage – Atlas CCB
Height	32.46 m (106.5 ft)
Diameter	3.81 m (12.5 ft)
Empty mass	21,054 kg (46,416 lb)
Propellant mass	284,089 kg (626,309 lb)
Powered by	1 RD-180
Maximum thrust	3,827 kN (860,000 lbf) (SL) 4,152 kN (933,000 lbf) (vac)
Specific impulse	311.3 s (3.053 km/s) (SL) 337.8 s (3.313 km/s) (vac)
Burn time	253 seconds
Propellant	RP-1 / LOX
Second stage – Centaur
Height	12.68 m (41.6 ft)
Diameter	3.05 m (10.0 ft)
Empty mass	2,316 kg (5,106 lb)
Propellant mass	20,830 kg (45,920 lb)
Powered by	1 RL10A or 1 RL10C
Maximum thrust	99.2 kN (22,300 lbf) (RL10A)
Specific impulse	450.5 s (4.418 km/s) (RL10A-4-2)
Burn time	842 seconds (RL10A-4-2)
Propellant	LH2 / LOX

The different types of Atlas V rockets.

The rocket is made of the first stage, a Common Core Booster with an RD-180 engine from Russia. Every Atlas V has this as the first stage. The second stage is called Centaur, and has one/two RL-10 engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne. On top is a 4–5-metre (13–16-foot) wide fairing covering the spacecraft during launch.

Flights

As of 2023 Atlas V has made 97 flights. The most famous ones carried the New Horizons, Mars Science Laboratory (which had the Curiosity rover in it), Juno, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS, the Boeing X-37B, the Mars 2020 mission which carried the Perseverance rover and the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, Boeing's CST-100 Starliner.

Variants

The Atlas V has a special way of naming the different kinds. The Atlas V nomenclature for numbering the variants goes like this: The first number says how wide the fairing is. A 400 series Atlas V has a 4-meter wide fairing. A 500 series Atlas V has a 5-meter wide fairing. An Atlas V N22 have no fairing since it will be the launch configuration for the Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. second number says how many strap-on solid rocket boosters the rocket has. An Atlas V 501 has no strap-on boosters, an Atlas V 441 has 4 strap-on boosters, while the Atlas V N22 has two strap-on boosters, which will be the Boeing Starliner launch configuration. The last number says how many engines the Centaur second stage has. All of the Atlas V rockets flown have had only 1 engine on the Centaur, but in the future other Atlas V rockets will have 2 engines on the Centaur upper stage, such as the Atlas V N22 that I frequently mentioned in this article. There is also the HLV which has two of the first stage (Common Core Booster) strapped on like strap-on boosters, but it has never flown.

Related pages

• Juno
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
• Mars Science Laboratory
• NASA
• New Horizons