Vanguard (rocket)

Vanguard
	Vanguard rocket on Pad LC-18A
Function	Satellite launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Glenn L. Martin Company
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	21.9 meters (72 ft)
Diameter	1.14 meters (3 ft 9 in)
Mass	10,050 kilograms (22,160 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	11.3 kg (25 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, LC-18A
Total launches	11
Success(es)	3
Failure(s)	8
First flight	23 October 1957; (Vanguard 1: 17 March 1958)
Last flight	18 September 1959
First stage – Vanguard
Height	13.4 m (44 ft)
Diameter	1.14 m (3 ft 9 in)
Empty mass	811 kg (1,788 lb)
Gross mass	8,090 kg (17,840 lb)
Powered by	1 General Electric; GE X-405
Maximum thrust	125,000 N (28,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	248 s (2.43 km/s)
Burn time	144 seconds
Propellant	LOX / Kerosene (RP-1)
Second stage – Delta
Height	5.8 m (19 ft)
Diameter	0.8 m (2 ft 7 in)
Empty mass	694 kg (1,530 lb)
Gross mass	1,990 kg (4,390 lb)
Powered by	1 Aerojet General AJ10-37
Maximum thrust	32,600 N (7,300 lbf)
Specific impulse	261 s (2.56 km/s)
Burn time	120 seconds
Propellant	UDMH / Nitric acid (IWFNA)
Third stage – Grand Central Rocket Company; or Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (last)
Height	1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Diameter	0.8 m (2 ft 7 in)
Empty mass	31 kg (68 lb)
Gross mass	194 kg (428 lb)
Powered by	1
Maximum thrust	10,400 N (2,300 lbf)
Specific impulse	230 s (2.3 km/s)
Burn time	30 seconds
Propellant	Solid
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Vanguard rocket^[1] was intended to be the first launch vehicle the United States would use to place a satellite into orbit. Instead, the Sputnik crisis caused by the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 led the U.S., after the failure of Vanguard TV-3, to quickly orbit the Explorer 1 satellite using a Juno I rocket, making Vanguard 1 the second successful U.S. orbital launch.

Vanguard rockets were used by Project Vanguard from 1957 to 1959. Of the eleven Vanguard rockets which the project attempted to launch, three successfully placed satellites into orbit. Vanguard rockets were an important part of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

^ B. Klawans. (April 1960). "The Vanguard Satellite Launching Vehicle — An Engineering Summary. Martin Company Engineering Report No 11022" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2006. PDF of an optical copy. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[1] B. Klawans. (April 1960). "The Vanguard Satellite Launching Vehicle — An Engineering Summary. Martin Company Engineering Report No 11022" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2006. PDF of an optical copy. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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