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Boilerplate version of Gemini spacecraft on display at Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral, Florida October 15, 2004.

The term Boilerplate in rocketry refers to a non-functional system or payload which is used to test the configuration. It is a lot cheaper to use this method than to launch the full spacecraft. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... Project Gemini insignia Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program in which the United States of America sent humans into space, between Projects Mercury and Apollo, during the years 1963-1966. ... The Bumper V-2 was the first missile launched at Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ...

Boilerplate spacecraft are most commonly used to test manned spacecraft, for example the tests of boilerplate Apollo spacecraft atop Saturn I rockets in the early 1960s. Apollo Spacecraft: Command Module, Service Module, Lunar Module. ... The Saturn I was Americas first large clustered rocket. ...

The term should not be confused with the term Battleship, which refers to a rocket or stage built for ground testing, i.e. not flight-weight.