Atlas H

Expendable launch vehicle

Atlas H
Launch history
Launch of the last Atlas H with NOSS-9.
Function	Expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Convair General Dynamics
Country of origin	United States
Status	Retired
Launch sites	SLC-3E, Vandenberg
Total launches	5
Success(es)	5
First flight	9 February 1983
Last flight	15 May 1987

Boosters
No. boosters	1
Powered by	2 LR-89-7
Total thrust	1,901.6 kN (427,500 lbf)
Specific impulse	293.4 s
Burn time	155 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
First stage
Powered by	1 LR-105-7
Maximum thrust	386.4 kN (86,900 lbf) Atlas D
Specific impulse	316 s
Burn time	266 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX

[edit on Wikidata]

The Atlas H was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas missile.^[1] It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used to launch five clusters of NOSS satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office.^[1] Two flights also carried LiPS satellites, as secondary payloads for the United States Naval Research Laboratory.^[1]

The Atlas H was a stage and a half rocket, using the enhanced Atlas rocket designed for use as the first stage of the Atlas G rocket,^[2] which differed from the Atlas H in having a Centaur upper stage. This stage was later reused as the first stage of the Atlas I. In practice, an MSD upper stage was flown on all five launches.^[3]

Atlas H could put a payload of 3,630 kg (8,000 lb) into low Earth orbit, or a payload of 2,255 kg (4,971 lb) into a geostationary transfer orbit.^[1]

Launches

The Atlas H was launched five times from Vandenberg SLC3E:^[1]

Date	Mission	Mass (kg)	Apogee (km)	Perigee (km)	Inclination º
1983 February 9	NOSS 4 - PARCAE 5 / OPS 0252	700	1,186	1,063	63.40
	SSB - SSU	700	1,489	733	63.40
	SSD (NOSS 4) - NOSS-Subsat 4-4		1,419	796	63.40
	SSC - SSU		1,173	1,043	63.50
	SSA - SSU		1,166	1,051	63.40
	SSA (NOSS 4) - NOSS-Subsat 4-1 / OPS 0252 DEB		1,164	1,051	63.50
	LIPS 2		1,399	822	63.30
1983 June 9	NOSS 5 - PARCAE 6 / OPS 6432	700	1,167	1,049	63.40
	GB1 - SSU		1,167	1,049	63.40
	GB3 - SSU		1,166	1,049	63.40
	GB2 - SSU		1,167	1,049	63.40
1984 February 5	NOSS 6 - PARCAE 7 / OPS 8737	700	1,172	1,052	63.40
	JD1 - SSU		1,172	1,052	63.40
	JD2 - SSU		1,172	1,052	63.40
	JD3 - SSU		1,172	1,052	63.40
1986 February 9	USA 15 - PARCAE 8	700	1,166	1,049	63.00
	USA 18 - SSU		1,407	817	63.41
	USA 16 - SSU		1,161	1,055	63.00
	USA 17 - SSU		1,165	1,055	63.00
1987 May 15	USA 22 - PARCAE 9	700	1,179	1,045	62.90
	LIPS 3		1,316	899	63.40
	USA 25 - SSU		1,178	1,035	62.60
	USA 24 - SSU		1,184	1,046	63.20
	USA 23 - SSU		1,170	1,039	63.40

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Atlas H". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ Encyclopedia Astronautica - Atlas
^ Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-H MSD

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