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Jupiter IRBM
Part of Jupiter
Juno I
Juno I
Credit: © Thomas Kladiva - Thomas Kladiva
American intermediate range ballistic missile. The Jupiter IRBM was developed for the US Army. By the time development was complete, the mission and the missile was assigned to the US Air Force, which had its own nearly identical missile, the Thor. Jupiters were stationed in Turkey and Italy in the early 1960's, but withdrawn in secret exchange for the withdrawal of Soviet R-5 missiles from Cuba. The Jupiter was used as the first stage of the relatively unsuccessful Juno II launch vehicle, and proposed for the Juno III and Juno IV. Jupiter tooling and engines were used to build the much larger Juno V / Saturn I launch vehicle.

AKA: B-78;Jupiter;Mk. 1;PGM-19A;SM-78. Status: Retired 1963. First Launch: 1957-03-01. Last Launch: 1963-01-23. Number: 36 . Payload: 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). Thrust: 734.00 kN (165,009 lbf). Gross mass: 54,400 kg (119,900 lb). Height: 18.40 m (60.30 ft). Diameter: 2.67 m (8.75 ft). Span: 2.67 m (8.75 ft). Apogee: 500 km (310 mi).

Von Braun's team started development of the Jupiter program in 1954 as a 1600 km (1000 mile) range intermediate range ballistic missile. Interservice rivalry led to the USAF being authorized to develop the Thor IRBM in 1955 to the same requirement. However the Army was to continue to develop Jupiter as a sea-launched missile for the Navy. The Navy didn't buy handling and loading large liquid [propellant rockets aboard its ships, and began development of the solid propellant Jupiter-S in February 1956. This allowed the Navy to divorce the Army from its program, and continue development of the Jupiter-S as the Polaris.

Tests of the Jupiter's Rocketdyne S-3D engine began in November 1955, and von Braun used flight tests of Redstone missiles to test Jupiter components from March 1956. These modified Redstone missiles were designated Jupiter A and Jupiter C, and were eventually used to launch the first American satellites. However these Jupiter designations caused endless confusion to the press and later space historians.

The Jupiter IRBM was finless and stubby-looking, a result of the original air-mobility requirement as well as to fit in submarine launch tubes. It used a gimbaled rocket engine stability and control. In November the Air Force was given responsibility for surface-to-surface missiles with a range over 320 km (200 miles). This made Jupiter an Air Force program, a poor orphan to the Air Force's own Thor program to the same requirement. But after the successful test of a Soviet ICBM in the summer of 1957, it was decided to complete development and production of both missiles. The USAF would deploy Thor to the UK and Jupiter to Italy and Turkey until it could deploy enough ICBM's to counter the (nearly non-existent) Soviet ICBM threat. The first of 30 Jupiter missiles became operational in June 1961 in Italy and the first of 15 in November 1961 in Turkey. However the deployment actually reduced American security, since it resulted in the Soviet Union made a tit-for-tat deployment of SS-12 IRBM's to Cuba. This precipitated in the Cuba Missile Crisis in October 1962, resulting in an agreement by the US to withdraw the Jupiter from Europe if the Soviet Union withdrew its missiles from Cuba. All of the Jupiters were withdrawn between January and June 1963. A total of 100 missiles had been built.

The Army's Jupiter differed from the USAF Thor in being ground-mobile, albeit requiring a caravan of 20 vehicles to deploy, survey, set-up, fuel, and launch a single missile. While Thor was developed into the Delta launch vehicle, which remained in use in the next century, Jupiter was abandoned except for a few Juno launches made by the von Braun team for NASA. However from Juno came the Super Juno, later called the Saturn I, using a cluster of Jupiter tanks and engines to produce the world's first heavy-lift launch vehicle.

Development Cost $: 84.500 million. Recurring Price $: 12.425 million in 1960 dollars. Flyaway Unit Cost 1985$: 0.735 million in 1960 dollars. Maximum range: 2,600 km (1,600 mi). Number Standard Warheads: 1. Standard RV: Mk. 1. Standard warhead: W49. Warhead yield: 1,440 KT. CEP: 0.97 km (0.60 mi). Boost Propulsion: Liquid rocket, Lox/Kerosene. Maximum speed: 14,520 kph (9,020 mph). Initial Operational Capability: 1958. Total Number Built: 98. Total Development Built: 38. Total Production Built: 60.

Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch

Chrysler SM-78-PGM-19 Jupiter

The Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) was originally developed by the U.S. Army as a long-range successor to its PGM-11 Redstone missile, but was eventually taken over and deployed by the USAF for political reasons. It was also the only one of the United States' early stategic ballistic missiles with some mobility.

The Army's Redstone Arsenal started the Jupiter program in 1954 as a 1600 km (1000 mile) range development of the PGM-11 Redstone. When the SM-75-PGM-17 Thor IRBM development was approved in 1955, the Army was ordered to develop Jupiter in collaboration with the U.S. Navy as a sea-launched missile. However, a liquid-fueled rocket was incompatible with the Navy's ship-borne safety requirements, and therefore the Navy began development of a solid-fueled Jupiter derivative (called Jupiter S) in February 1956. The Jupiter S was soon cancelled, however, being replaced by the UGM-27 Polaris SLBM. Tests of the Jupiter's Rocketdyne S-3D engine had been underway since November 1955, and flight tests of Jupiter components on modified PGM-11 Redstone missiles, designated Jupiter A, began in March 1956. Also in 1956, Chrysler was awarded a contract for all future production of Jupiter missiles. The Jupiter C was a further modified Jupiter A to test the new ablative reentry nose cone of the forthcoming Jupiter IRBM. It was equipped with a cluster of small rockets around the nose cone working as a second stage. First flown in September 1956, the Jupiter C earned fame when launching Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, into orbit on 1 February 1958.

The Jupiter IRBM itself differed significantly from the Redstone and Jupiter A-C missiles. Stemming from the original Navy requirements to store it in submarines, it was much shorter and fatter, and used a gimballed rocket nozzle instead of fins for stability and control. Most important for the later operational career of the Jupiter was a decision by the Secretary of Defense in November 1956 to settle a dispute between the Army and the Air Force about the responsibility for surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. It was decided that the USAF would be given the sole control for all missiles with a range over 320 km (200 miles). From this moment, Jupiter was officially an Air Force program, and the USAF in turn assigned the designation SM-78 to the Jupiter IRBM. Although the range restriction for Army missiles was lifted less than a year later, the Jupiter remained with the USAF.

Development of the Jupiter was still continued by the Army, and in October 1957 the first successful SM-78 launch occurred. The USAF was initially somewhat reluctant to accept a second IRBM besides its "own" SM-75-PGM-17 Thor, but this was changed in November 1957, when DOD officially announced to deploy both the Thor and Jupiter IRBMs. In 1959, the USA had finally negotiated with Italy and Turkey to base the Jupiter in these countries. The first SM-78 squadrons became fully operational in Italy and Turkey in June and November 1961, respectively. After a few months, control of the Jupiter squadrons was turned over to Italian-Turkish troops. In total, 30 missiles were deployed to Italy, and 15 to Turkey.

The SM-78 was a single-stage rocket, powered by a single Rocketdyne S-3D engine fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen. This was the same engine as in the SM-75-PGM-17 Thor. However, the SM-78 was a more effective IRBM than the SM-75, because of its mobility. Although a Jupiter launch site was far from easy to move, requiring more than 20 vehicles, it did significantly increase the missile's survivability in a pre-emptive attack, because the location of the Jupiters could not be pre-targeted by the enemy. Also, the SM-78's ablative reentry vehicle flew through the atmosphere at much higher speed than the SM-75's Mk.2 RV, making it less susceptible to wind drift and therefore significantly more accurate. The Jupiter's guidance unit was an ST-90 all-inertial navigation system by Ford Instrument.

The SM-78 did not stay in service very long. In January 1963 the USA announced to withdraw all Jupiters from Italy and Turkey, and by July that year, the last missile had been removed. The U.S. Navy's deployment of the UGM-27A Polaris SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile) had made land-based IRBMs redundant. In June 1963, immediately prior to retirement, the SM-78 had been redesignated as PGM-19A. Until 1960, when production ceased, about 100 Jupiter IRBMs had been built by Chrysler.

Unlike many other retired USAF ballistic missiles, the SM-78 was not used as a space launch vehicle. The Jupiter formed the first stage of NASA's Juno II launch vehicle, but this was only moderately successful.

Specifications

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for PGM-19A:

Length 18.3 m (60 ft)
Diameter 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in)
Weight 49800 kg (110000 lb)
Speed 16100 km-h (10000 mph)
Ceiling 610 km (380 miles)
Range 2980 km (1850 miles)
Propulsion Rocketdyne LR79-NA (Model S-3D); 666 kN (150000 lb)
Warhead W-49 thermonuclear (1.45 MT) in a Goodyear RV
Main Sources

[1] James N. Gibson: "Nuclear Weapons of the United States", Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1996
[2] Bill Gunston: "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rockets and Missiles", Salamander Books Ltd, 1979
[3] Redstone Arsenal Historical Information Website




Family: IRBM, pad-launched. People: von Braun. Country: USA. Engines: S-3D. Spacecraft: Beacon 1, Pioneer 3-4, Mercury, S-1, S-46, S-30, P-14, S-15. Launch Sites: Cape Canaveral, Cape Canaveral LC6, Cape Canaveral LC5, Cape Canaveral LC26A, Cape Canaveral LC26B. Stages: Jupiter (stage). Bibliography: 126, 16, 17, 2, 281, 439, 45, 483, 563, 6, 86, 8353.
Photo Gallery

Jupiter missileJupiter missile
Credit: © Mark Wade


Juno 2Juno 2
Credit: © Mark Wade



1955 July 1 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1955 November 8 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1956 August 8 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1956 November 1 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1956 November 26 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1957 March 1 - . 21:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM. FAILURE: Missile break-up attributed to overheating in the tail section.. Failed Stage: 1.
1957 April 26 - . 20:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM. FAILURE: Failure. Failed Stage: 1.
1957 May 31 - . 18:08 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1957 August 28 - . 21:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1957 October 23 - . 01:07 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1957 November 27 - . 02:10 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM. FAILURE: At 202 seconds of flight mechanical failure of the turbo-pump caused a complete loss of thrust.. Failed Stage: 1.
1957 December 19 - . 00:07 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM. FAILURE: Thrust ended abruptly at 116.87 seconds of flight due to turbo-pump malfunction.. Failed Stage: 1.
1958 January 15 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1958 May 18 - . 05:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1958 July 17 - . 09:04 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1958 August 27 - . 23:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1958 October 10 - . 03:49 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM. FAILURE: Destroyed after 49 seconds of erratic flight caused by fire in the tail section.. Failed Stage: 1.
1958 December 13 - . 08:53 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 January 22 - . 00:10 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 February 27 - . 23:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 March 30 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 April 4 - . 00:34 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 May 7 - . 01:47 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 May 14 - . 05:52 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 May 28 - . 07:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 July 1 - . LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 July 10 - . 01:01 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 August 27 - . 01:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 September 15 - . 21:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM. FAILURE: The flight was erratic at lift-off and the missile destroyed itself after 13 seconds, just before command destruct. Failure of a silver soldered connection joint to the pressure sphere caused destruction of the missile.. Failed Stage: G.
1959 October 1 - . 01:28 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC6. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 October 22 - . 03:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 November 5 - . 00:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC6. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 November 19 - . 01:31 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 December 10 - . 00:08 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC6. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1959 December 17 - . 00:03 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1960 January 26 - . 00:48 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26B. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1960 February 5 - . 00:19 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC6. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1960 October 20 - . 16:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1961 April 22 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1961 August 5 - . 00:19 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1961 December 6 - . 22:37 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1962 April 18 - . 18:17 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1962 August 1 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.
1963 January 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC26A. LV Family: Jupiter. Launch Vehicle: Jupiter IRBM.

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