Space Launch Now - Atlas Agena B

Atlas Agena B

In-active

United States Air Force (USAF)

Jan. 31, 1961

Description

The Atlas LV-3A was a largely unsuccessful configuration until it was given an Agena B upper stage. It was responsible for the launch of Mariner II to Venus and had one of the first engines that could be restarted in orbit.

Specifications

Length
20.27 m
Diameter
3.05 m
Fairing Diameter
―
Launch Mass
130.0 T
Thrust
363.0 kN

Family

Name
Atlas Agena B
Family
―
Variant
LV-3 Agena B
Alias
―
Full Name
Atlas LV-3 Agena B

Payload Capacity

Launch Cost
$14210000
Low Earth Orbit
―
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
―
Direct Geostationary
―
Sun-Synchronous Capacity
―

United States Air Force

Government

Commander-in-Chief: President of the US

USAF 1947

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.

Previous Flights

flew on 29 previous launch(es).

Atlas Agena B | Ranger 9

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
March 21, 1965, 9:37 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Lunar impactor which successfully reached the surface after transmitting 5,814 photographs.

Lunar Impactor

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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 8

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 17, 1965, 5:05 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Lunar impactor which successfully reached the surface after transmitting 7,137 photographs.

Lunar Impactor

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Atlas Agena B | OGO 1

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Sept. 5, 1964, 1:23 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

The OGO (Orbiting Geophysical Observatory) series was a series of large, complex research satellites.

Elliptical Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 7

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
July 28, 1964, 4:50 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Lunar impactor which successfully reached the surface after transmitting 7,137 photographs.

Lunar Impactor

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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 6

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Jan. 30, 1964, 3:49 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Lunar impactor which successfully reached the surface but sent no video signal back to Earth.

Lunar Impactor

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Atlas Agena B | Midas 9

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
July 19, 1963, 3:51 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

MIDAS Series 3 (Military Defense Alarm System) early warning satellite.

Medium Earth Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Midas 8

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 12, 1963, midnight

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

MIDAS Series 3 (Military Defense Alarm System) early warning satellite.

Medium Earth Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Midas 7

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
May 9, 1963, 8:06 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

MIDAS Series 3 (Military Defense Alarm System) early warning satellite.

Medium Earth Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Midas 6

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Dec. 17, 1962, 8:36 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

MIDAS Series 3 (Military Defense Alarm System) early warning satellite.

Medium Earth Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 5

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Nov. 11, 1962, 8:17 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Samos E-6 (Satellite and Missile Observation System) was an attempt to create an medium-resolution reconnaissance satellite with film return via reentry capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 5

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Oct. 18, 1962, 4:59 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Lunar impactor which missed the Moon by 725 km due to an unknown malfunction preventing the spacecraft from receiving power after injection into lunar trajectory.

Lunar Impactor

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Atlas Agena B | Mariner 2

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Aug. 27, 1962, 6:53 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Backup of Mariner 1, designed to flyby Venus. It passed below the planet at a closest distance of 34,773 km.

Venus flyby

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Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 4

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 5, 1962, 5:58 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Samos E-6 (Satellite and Missile Observation System) was an attempt to create an medium-resolution reconnaissance satellite with film return via reentry capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Mariner 1

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
July 22, 1962, 9:21 a.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Spacecraft designed to flyby Venus. It was lost during launch.

Venus flyby

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Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 3

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
July 18, 1962, 8:51 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Samos E-6 (Satellite and Missile Observation System) was an attempt to create an medium-resolution reconnaissance satellite with film return via reentry capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 2

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 17, 1962, 6:14 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Samos E-6 (Satellite and Missile Observation System) was an attempt to create an medium-resolution reconnaissance satellite with film return via reentry capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 1

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
April 26, 1962, 6:56 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Samos E-6 (Satellite and Missile Observation System) was an attempt to create an medium-resolution reconnaissance satellite with film return via reentry capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 4

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
April 23, 1962, 8:50 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Ranger 4 was a spacecraft designed to softly impact the lunar surface. Its solar panels were never extended and its sun and earth acquisition system was not initiated due to a failure of a timer in its central computer. It impacted the far side of the Moon on April 26 after 64 hours of flight.

Lunar Impactor

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Atlas Agena B | Midas 5

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
April 9, 1962, 3:04 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Military Defense Alarm System satellite designed to detect ICBMs using 175 infrared detectors. This launch also carried a batch of West Ford needles.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Samos 6

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
March 7, 1962, 10:10 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

High-resolution reconnaissance satellite with film return via reentry capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Atlas Agena B | Ranger 3

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Jan. 26, 1962, 8:30 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Ranger 3 was a spacecraft designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface during the last 10 minutes prior to impacting the Moon. A malfunction in the booster guidance system resulted in excessive spacecraft speed. Ranger 3 missed the Moon by 36,800 km and is now in a heliocentric orbit.

Heliocentric N/A

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Atlas LV-3A | Samos 5

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Dec. 22, 1961, 7:12 p.m.