Athena II

Athena II
	Athena II at LC-46 with Lunar Prospector
Function	Small expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin; Alliant Techsystems
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	28.2 metres (93 ft)
Diameter	2.36 metres (7 ft 9 in)
Mass	120,700 kilograms (266,100 lb)
Stages	Four
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	2,065 kilograms (4,553 lb)
Payload to SSO
Mass	1,165 kilograms (2,568 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	593 kilograms (1,307 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Athena
Based on	LGM-118 Peacekeeper;
Comparable	Falcon 1; Minotaur IV; Taurus
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-46; Vandenberg AFB SLC-6
Total launches	3
Success(es)	2
Failure	1
First flight	7 January 1998
Last flight	24 September 1999
First stage – Castor 120
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	1,900 kilonewtons (430,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	280 sec
Burn time	83 seconds
Propellant	HTPB/AP
Second stage – Castor 120
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	1,900 kilonewtons (430,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	280 sec
Burn time	83 seconds
Propellant	HTPB/AP
Third stage – Orbus 21D
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	189.2 kilonewtons (42,500 lbf)
Specific impulse	293 sec
Burn time	150 seconds
Propellant	HTPB/AP
Fourth stage – OAM
Powered by	4 MR-107
Maximum thrust	882 newtons (198 lbf)
Specific impulse	222 sec
Burn time	1,500 seconds
Propellant	Hydrazine
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Athena II is an American small expendable launch system which was used for three launches between 1998 and 1999,^[1] and which was scheduled to return to service in 2012 but has not been flown again as of 2024. It is a member of the Athena family of rockets, along with the smaller Athena I.

The Athena II is a four-stage rocket, consisting of solid first, second and third stages, and a monopropellant liquid-fueled fourth stage. The first and second stages are Castor 120s, which are also used on some versions of the Taurus rocket. An Orbus 21D motor was used as the third stage on launches during the 1990s. A planned second generation Athena II launch vehicle will use a Castor 30 third stage which is under currently under development for the Taurus II.^[2]^[3] The fourth stage is an Orbital Adjustment Module, fueled by hydrazine and propelled by four MR-107 engines, which is used for final insertion.^[4]^[5]

Prior to its retirement in 1999, Athena II launches were made from Launch Complex 46 at Spaceport Florida and Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. LC-46 will also be used for Athena IIc launches, with Launch Pad 0B of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and Pad 1 of the Kodiak Launch Complex also offered.

During the 1990s, three Athena II launches were conducted, with one failure. Its maiden flight was conducted from LC-46 at Spaceport Florida, and lifted off at 02:28 GMT on 7 January 1997. The launch, which was the first to take place from Spaceport Florida, successfully placed the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into orbit for NASA. The next Athena II launch took place from SLC-6 at Vandenberg on 27 April 1999, with the Ikonos satellite for Space Imaging. The launch ended in failure after the payload fairing failed to separate, and as a result the rocket had too much mass to achieve orbital velocity.^[6] The third launch also took place from SLC-6 at Vandenberg, on 24 September 1999. The payload, Ikonos 1, was also for Space Imaging, and successfully reached orbit.^[1]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Wade, Mark. "Athena". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ "Taurus II" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ "Lockheed Martin and ATK Announce 2nd Generation Athena Launch Vehicles". Media - Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
^ Krebs, Gunter. "Athena (LLV / LMLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Wade, Mark. "OAM". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ "Lockheed: Ikonos Fell into Sea". Wired. 29 April 1999. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[EA-1] Wade, Mark. "Athena". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[OSC-TII-2] "Taurus II" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[3] "Lockheed Martin and ATK Announce 2nd Generation Athena Launch Vehicles". Media - Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2022-10-10.

[GSP-4] Krebs, Gunter. "Athena (LLV / LMLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[OAM-5] Wade, Mark. "OAM". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[6] "Lockheed: Ikonos Fell into Sea". Wired. 29 April 1999. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[JSR-LL-7] McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S 2^† Chollima-1 Electron Eris^† Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 HANBIT-NANO^† Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 2 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 12A LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum^† SSLV Starship Tianlong 2 3^† Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2E 3
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kinetica 2H 3 KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R VLM Vega E Zero Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^† 2
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Pegasus XL SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I Eclipse Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted and production stopped ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage

Athena II

See also

References