Atlas V
Description
Atlas V is United Launch Alliance's proven medium-to-heavy launch vehicle with a 100% mission success record across over 100 flights. Powered by a single RD-180 engine on its first stage and one or two RL-10 engines on its Centaur upper stage, Atlas V has been the workhorse of US national security space launches for over two decades, carrying payloads including GPS satellites, NRO payloads, NASA's OSIRIS-REx, Perseverance Mars rover, and MAVEN.
Atlas V flies in multiple configurations based on fairing diameter (4 m or 5 m) and number of solid rocket boosters (0, 2, 3, 4, or 5), enabling lift capacity from approximately 8,900 kg to 18,850 kg to LEO. The vehicle's single-engine Centaur stage provides exceptional performance for high-energy missions including GEO-direct and interplanetary trajectories.
Atlas V is being retired in favor of Vulcan Centaur, with the final flights completing the existing mission manifest. The vehicle is notable for integrating the Boeing CST-100 Starliner crewed spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Its unblemished launch record has made it the benchmark for launch reliability in the US national security space sector.
Specifications
| First stage engine | 1× RD-180 (LOX/RP-1) |
|---|---|
| Upper stage | Centaur, 1 or 2× RL-10 |
| Payload to LEO | up to 18,850 kg (HLV config) |
| Payload to GTO | up to 8,900 kg |
| Mission success rate | 100% (100+ flights) |
| Status | Retiring, final flights in progress |
| Revision | 11 |
