Atlas family
Atlas Agena B
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.
Flights flown29
Success rate72.4%21/29
Maiden flight1961-01-31
Peak year196213 flights
Atlas Agena B is built by United States Air Force of the United States. It first flew on 31 January 1961 and last flew on 21 March 1965.
Flight record
72.4% success rate21 of 29 flown · 8 failed
1961peak 1962 · 13 flights1965
First flight1961-01-31
Latest flight1965-03-21
Failures8
Consecutive successes6
Fastest turnaround2d 22h
Payload
| Launch cost | $14.2M |
|---|
Vehicle
| Length | 20.27m |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 3.05m |
| Launch mass | 130t |
| Liftoff thrust | 363kN |
| Maiden flight | 1961-01-31 |
| Reusable | No |
Pads used
Orbits delivered
Polar Orbit7Lunar Impactor6Medium Earth Orbit4Venus flyby2Elliptical Orbit1Heliocentric N/A1
Launch history
| Date | Mission | Pad | Orbit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965-03-21 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 9 | Launch Complex 12 | Lunar Impactor | Success |
| 1965-02-17 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 8 | Launch Complex 12 | Lunar Impactor | Success |
| 1964-09-05 | Atlas Agena B | OGO 1 | Launch Complex 12 | Elliptical Orbit | Success |
| 1964-07-28 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 7 | Launch Complex 12 | Lunar Impactor | Success |
| 1964-01-30 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 6 | Launch Complex 12 | Lunar Impactor | Success |
| 1963-07-19 | Atlas Agena B | Midas 9 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Medium Earth Orbit | Success |
| 1963-06-12 | Atlas Agena B | Midas 8 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Medium Earth Orbit | Failure |
| 1963-05-09 | Atlas Agena B | Midas 7 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Medium Earth Orbit | Success |
| 1962-12-17 | Atlas Agena B | Midas 6 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Medium Earth Orbit | Failure |
| 1962-11-11 | Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 5 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-10-18 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 5 | Launch Complex 12 | Lunar Impactor | Success |
| 1962-08-27 | Atlas Agena B | Mariner 2 | Launch Complex 12 | Venus flyby | Success |
| 1962-08-05 | Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 4 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-07-22 | Atlas Agena B | Mariner 1 | Launch Complex 12 | Venus flyby | Failure |
| 1962-07-18 | Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 3 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-06-17 | Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 2 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-04-26 | Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 1 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-04-23 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 4 | Launch Complex 12 | Lunar Impactor | Success |
| 1962-04-09 | Atlas Agena B | Midas 5 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-03-07 | Atlas Agena B | Samos 6 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Polar Orbit | Success |
| 1962-01-26 | Atlas Agena B | Ranger 3 | Launch Complex 12 | Heliocentric N/A | Success |
| 1961-12-22 | Atlas LV-3A | Samos 5 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Failure | |
| 1961-11-22 | Atlas LV-3A | Samos 4 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Failure | |
| 1961-11-18 | Atlas LV-3A | Ranger 2 | Launch Complex 12 | Failure | |
| 1961-10-21 | Atlas LV-3A | MIDAS 4 & Westford-1 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Success | |
| 1961-09-09 | Atlas LV-3A | Samos 3 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Failure | |
| 1961-08-23 | Atlas LV-3A | Ranger 1 | Launch Complex 12 | Failure | |
| 1961-07-12 | Atlas LV-3A | MIDAS 3 | Space Launch Complex 3E | Success | |
| 1961-01-31 | Atlas LV-3A | Samos 2 | Space Launch Complex 3W | Success |
Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.
Further reading: Operator page