AS-203

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AS-203

Launch of AS-203
Mission type	Launch vehicle development
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1966-059A
SATCAT no.	2289
Mission duration	~6 hours
Distance travelled	161,900 kilometers (87,400 nmi)
Orbits completed	4
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	None
Start of mission
Launch date	July 5, 1966, 14:53:13 (1966-07-05UTC14:53:13Z) UTC
Rocket	Saturn IB SA-203
Launch site	Cape Kennedy LC-37B
End of mission
Destroyed	July 5, 1966 (1966-07-06)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	184 kilometers (99 nmi)
Apogee altitude	214 kilometers (116 nmi)
Inclination	31.9 degrees
Period	88.47 minutes
Epoch	July 5, 1966[1]
Apollo program ← AS-201 AS-202 →

AS-203 (also known as SA-203 or ‘’’Apollo 3’’’) was an uncrewed flight of the Saturn IB rocket on July 5, 1966. It carried no command and service module, as its purpose was to verify the design of the S-IVB rocket stage restart capability that would later be used in the Apollo program to boost astronauts from Earth orbit to a trajectory towards the Moon. It achieved its objectives, but the stage was inadvertently destroyed after four orbits.