The Lockheed Martin Atlas III was an American orbital launch vehicle, used between 2000 and 2005. It was the first member of the Atlas family since the Atlas A to feature a "normal" staging method, compared to the previous Atlas family members, which were equipped with jettisonable engines on the first (sustainer) stage.
The Atlas III consisted of two stages. The first stage was new, but the upper stage was the Centaur, which has been used on mos...
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The Lockheed Martin Atlas III was an American orbital launch vehicle, used between 2000 and 2005. It was the first member of the Atlas family since the Atlas A to feature a "normal" staging method, compared to the previous Atlas family members, which were equipped with jettisonable engines on the first (sustainer) stage.
The Atlas III consisted of two stages. The first stage was new, but the upper stage was the Centaur, which has been used on most American launch vehicles since the 1960s, and is still in use today on the Atlas V EELV. The first stage engines were Russian RD-180s, which are also used by the Atlas V. The Atlas III was produced in two versions. The baseline was the Atlas IIIA, but the Atlas IIIB, featuring a twin-engine version of the Centaur upper stage, was also produced.
The maiden flight of the Atlas III occurred on May 24, 2000, launching the Eutelsat W4 communications satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. All Atlas III launches were made from Space Launch Complex...
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