Atlas-Centaur

Atlas-Centaur

An Atlas-Centaur launching Surveyor 1 (1966)
Function	Expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Convair Division of General Dynamics
Country of origin	United States
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, LC-36
Total launches	197
Success(es)	181
Failure(s)	13
Partial failure(s)	3
First flight	8 May 1962
Last flight	31 August 2004
[edit on Wikidata]

The Atlas-Centaur was a United States expendable launch vehicle derived from the SM-65 Atlas D missile. The vehicle featured a Centaur upper stage, the first such stage to use high-performance liquid hydrogen as fuel. Launches were conducted from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. After a strenuous flight test program, Atlas-Centaur went on to launch several crucial spaceflight missions for the United States, including Surveyor 1, Mariner 4, and Pioneer 10/11. The vehicle would be continuously developed and improved into the 1990s, with the last direct descendant being the highly successful Atlas II.