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The Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7, carrying astronaut John Glenn, was launched on an Atlas rocket.

Atlas is a family of U.S. space launch vehicles. The original Atlas missile was designed in the late 1950s. It was a liquid-fuel rocket burning LOX and RP-1 in three engines configured in an unusual "stage-and-a-half" or "Parallel Staging" design: two of its three engines were jettisoned during ascent, but its fuel tanks and other structural elements were retained. Various Atlas II models were launched 63 times between 1991 and 2004. There were only 6 launches of the Atlas III, all between 2000 and 2005. The Atlas V is still in service, with launches planned through 2011.

See also: SM-65 Atlas

The first successful test launch of an SM-65 Atlas missile was on December 17, 1957.^[1] Approximately 350 Atlas missiles were built. Many were eventually converted to orbital launch vehicles after they were removed from service as missiles. Missiles converted into Atlas E/F "space boosters" were used to launch the early "Block I" GPS satellites.^[2]

Early Atlas rockets were also built specifically for non-military uses. On December 18, 1958, An Atlas was used to launch the Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment (SCORE) satellite, which was, "The first prototype of a communications satellite, and the first test of any satellite for direct practical applications."^[3][4] Atlas boosters were also used for four manned Project Mercury missions. On February 20, 1962 it launched Friendship 7, which made three earth orbits carrying John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth. Identical Atlas boosters successfully launched three more manned Mercury orbital missions in 1962-63.

Beginning in 1960 the Agena upper-stage, powered by hypergolic fuel, was used extensively on Atlas launch vehicles. The United States Air Force, NRO and CIA used them to launch SIGINT satellites.^[5] NASA used them in the Ranger program to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon and for Mariner 2, the first spacecraft to flyby another planet. Each of the Agena target vehicles used for space rendezvous missions was launched on an Atlas rocket.

Beginning in 1963 the LH2-fueled Centaur upper stage was also used on dozens of Atlas launches. NASA launched the Surveyor program lunar lander spacecraft and most of the Mars-bound Mariner program spacecraft with Atlas-Centaur launch vehicles.

Atlas evolution.

Main article: Atlas II

In May 1988, the Air Force chose General Dynamics (now Lockheed-Martin) to develop the Atlas II.

Main article: Atlas III

The Atlas III was used between 2000 and 2005. Atlas III was the first member of the Atlas family to use "normal" staging. Its first stage used a single RD-180 engine.

Main article: Atlas V

The Atlas V is built in Decatur, Alabama by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The first Atlas V launch was on August 21, 2002. In late 2009 an Atlas V is scheduled to launch the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission.

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