Athena (rocket)
The Athena (originally referred to as the LLV (Lockheed Launch Vehicle) and LMLV (Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle)) is a small to medium-sized payload rocket. It was based on the Castor-120 developed -Triebwerks, a civil derivative of the first stage of the Peacekeeper - ICBM was.
commitment
A total of seven flights took place from 1995 to 2001. The first two missions took place under the original names LLV and LMLV before the name Athena was introduced for the program. The Athena missile had little commercial success, so production was discontinued. On March 25, 2010 the space company Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announced the new version of the launch vehicle program "Athena". The companies planned two versions of the "Athena", the Athena 1c with 740 kg payload and the Athena 2c with 1712 kg payload. The companies justified their re-entry with a grown market. Furthermore, the production costs should be lower compared to the first Athena versions. The plans have since been abandoned.
Versions
Athena 1
The Athena 1 consisted of a Castor 120 rocket motor, an Orbus 21D rocket motor, and an upper stage powered by liquid fuel. This configuration could transport 795 kg into a low orbit . A total of four missiles of this type were launched, three of which were successful. The start locations were Cape Canaveral AFS , Vandenberg AFB and Kodiak Launch Complex .
Athena 1c
The two-stage Athena 1c is based on the concept of the Athena 1. A Castor 120 rocket motor is still used for the first stage. The newly developed Castor 30 rocket motor is used for the second stage. The payload should be 740 kg.
Athena 2
The Athena II complemented the configuration of the Athena I with another Castor 120 rocket motor. In this configuration, 1985 kg could be put into low orbit. The Athena II was launched three times, two of which were successful. The payloads were the Lunar Prospector lunar probe and two IKONOS exploration satellites. The starting locations were Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg.
Athena 2c
In the three-stage Athena 2c, the configuration of the Athena 1 is supplemented by a further Castor 120 rocket motor. In this configuration 1712 kg can be put into low orbit.
Athena 3
A version of the Athena 2 reinforced with two to six additional solid boosters was planned, but was never used.
Start list
This is a complete launch list for the Athena missile.
| Serial No. | Date time UTC |
Type | Ser.-No. | Launch site | payload | Type of payload | Payload in kg (gross 1 ) | Orbit 2 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 15, 1995 10:30 PM |
Athena 1 (LLV I) | DLV | VAFB SLC-6 | GemStar 1 (VitaSat 1) | Communications satellite | 136 kg | LEO | Failure 2nd stage failure |
| 2 | August 23, 1997 6:51 am |
Athena 1 (LMLV I) | LM-2 | VAFB SLC-6 | Lewis (SSTI 1) | Earth observation satellite | 288 kg | SSO | success |
| 3 | Jan 7, 1998 2:28 am |
Athena 2 | LM-4 | CCAFS LC-46 | Lunar Prospector | Lunar probe | 295 kg | Escape route | success |
| 4th | January 27, 1999 12:34 am |
Athena 1 | LM-6 | CCAFS SLC-46 | ROCSAT 1 | Taiwanese earth observation satellite | 402 kg | SSO | success |
| 5 | April 27, 1999 6:22 PM |
Athena 2 | LM-5 | VAFB SLC-6 | IKONOS-1 | Earth observation satellite | 726 kg | SSO | Failure of payload fairing not detached |
| 6th | September 24, 1999 6:21 PM |
Athena 2 | LM-7 | VAFB SLC-6 | IKONOS | Earth observation satellite | 726 kg | SSO | success |
| 7th | September 30, 2001 2:40 am |
Athena 1 | LM-1 | KLC LP-1 | Starshine 3 , PICOSat , PCSat , SAPPHIRE | four microsatellites | 184 kg | LEO | success |
Web links
- Athena in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b spacenews.com Space News from March 25, 2010.
- ↑ spacenews.com .