Atlas-Able

Atlas-Able
Size
The Atlas-D Able rocket carrying Pioneer P-3, sitting on Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14.
Manufacturer	Convair Division of General Dynamics
Country of origin	United States
Height	28 m (91 ft)
Diameter	3.05 m (10 ft)
Payload to Trans-lunar injection	170 kg (370 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	LC-12, 13 & 14, Cape Canaveral
Total launches	3
Failure(s)	3
First flight	26 November 1959
Last flight	15 December 1960
[edit on Wikidata]

The Atlas-Able was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas missile. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used to launch several Pioneer spacecraft towards the Moon. Of the five Atlas-Able rockets built, two failed during static firings, and the other three failed to reach orbit.^[1]

The Atlas-Able was a three-and-a-half-stage rocket, with a stage-and-a-half Atlas missile as the first stage, an Able second stage, and an Altair third stage.^[2]

The first Atlas-Able used an Atlas C as the first stage,^[3] and was intended to carry Pioneer P-1, but exploded during a static fire test on 24 September 1959.^[4]

The remaining Pioneer launches used Atlas D missiles. Launches were conducted from Launch Complexes 12 and 14 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. One launch was planned from Launch Complex 13; this became the second Atlas-Able to be destroyed during a static firing, and hence never launched.^[1]

Launches

Launches of Atlas-Able^[2]^[3]^[5]
Date	Serial No.	Mission	Launch Site	Outcome
-	Atlas 9C	Pioneer P-1	LC-14	Failure. Explosion during a static fire test.
26 November 1959	Atlas 20D	Pioneer P-3	LC-14	Failure. The Payload fairing broke up at 45 seconds after liftoff, causing loss of the upper stage and payload.^[6]
25 September 1960	Atlas 80D	Pioneer P-30	LC-12	Failure. A propellant feed on the second stage had a malfunction.^[7]
15 December 1960	Atlas 91D	Pioneer P-31	LC-12	Failure. Vibration and/or debris from the Able adapter section ruptured the liquid oxygen tank of Atlas, causing an explosion.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b Encyclopedia Astronautica - Atlas
^ ^a ^b Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-D Able
^ ^a ^b Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-C Able
^ Space Review, The Pioneer lunar orbiters: a forgotten failure, by Andrew J. LePage, Monday, December 13, 2010
^ "Atlas-Able". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
^ "Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-3". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
^ "Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-30". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
^ "Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-31". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.

Atlas rockets

Main articles

Atlas family
SM-65 Atlas

Rockets

Prototypes

Missiles

Launch systems

Alphabetical	Atlas B Atlas D Atlas E/F Atlas G Atlas H
Upper stages	Atlas-Able Atlas-Agena Atlas-Centaur
Numerical	Atlas I Atlas II Atlas III Atlas V
Other	Atlas LV-3B Atlas SLV-3 GX

Launch sites

Cape Canaveral	LC-11 LC-12 LC-13 LC-14 (S)LC-36 SLC-41
Vandenberg	LC-576 SLC-3 SLC-4
Bases	Altus Dyess Fairchild Forbes Francis E. Warren Lincoln Offutt Plattsburgh Schilling Walker

Components

Boosters	AJ-60A Castor 4A MA
First stages	Common Core Booster
Upper stages	Able Agena Altair Burner Centaur IABS MSD OIS PTS SGS Star SVS Trident
Engines	AJ-10 B-8048 B-8081 B-8096 LR-89 LR-105 R-4D RD-180 RL10 RS-56

Corporations

Manufacturers

Rocket	Convair General Dynamics Martin Marietta Lockheed Martin
Engines	Aerojet NPO Energomash Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Thiokol

LSPs

Launches

1957–1959
1960–1969
1970–1979
1980–1989
1990–1999
2000–2009
2010–2019
2020–2029

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 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 original C Vulcan Centaur Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M 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 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 VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 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 Starship Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona Firefly Beta New Glenn Neutron Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 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