The maiden flight of the Atlas III

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 to feature a "normal" staging method, compared to the previous Atlas variants, which were equipped with jettisonable engines on the first (sustainer) stage. Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ... In physics, an orbit is the path that an object makes, around another object, whilst under the influence of a source of centripetal force, such as gravity. ... Rockets (including missiles) can be launched from the following: for a launch into an orbital spaceflight and beyond: a launch pad, including a floating platform (see San Marco platform, Sea Launch) for the launch into a suborbital flight also: a missile silo a mobile launcher vehicle a submarine air launch... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ...

It 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 and Delta EELVs. Model of Centaur with Surveyor as payload. ... Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... The United States government–sponsored Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program was intended to develop affordable alternatives to legacy medium-to-heavy-lift launch vehicles (e. ...

The first stage engines were Russian RD-180s, which are also used by the Atlas V. They are liscence-produced in the US by Pratt and Whitney. The RD-180 is a dual-bell, Russian-developed rocket engine which is essentially a cut-down version of a larger Russian engine with four bells. ... Pratt & Whitney is an American owned aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. ...

The maiden flight of the Atlas III occurred on May 24, 2000, launching the Eutelsat W4 communications satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... U.S. military MILSTAR communications satellite A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications. ... A geosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that has the same orbital period as the sidereal rotation period of the Earth. ...

The Atlas III was produced in two versions. The baseline was the Atlas IIIA, but the Atlas IIIB, which featured a twin-engine version of the Centaur upper stage was also produced.

All Atlas III launches were made from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Bumper V-2 was the first missile launched at Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950. ...

The Atlas III made its last flight on February 3, 2005, with a classified payload for the United States National Reconnaissance Office. February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a department of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) which designs, builds and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the United States government. ...