Concept ICBM
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American orbital launch vehicle. The January 1951 design for the Atlas used seven main engines plus two vernier engines to hurl the 3600 kg nuclear warhead over a 9300 km range. CEP was optimistically estimated as 460 m.
Maximum range: 9,300 km (5,700 mi). CEP: 0.46 km (0.28 mi).
Related
- Family
- orbital launch vehicle
- Country
- USA
- Agency
- Convair
Chronology
1 event
1951 January 16
LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Concept ICBM.- Project MX-1593 (Project Atlas) begins. - .
Nation: USA.
Air Force established Project MX-1593 (Project Atlas), study phase for an intercontinental missile. Requirements included 8000-pound warhead, 5000 nautical mile range, to hit within 1500 ft. CEP. $1.5 million study contract was awarded to Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft on January 23. This was the follow-on to Project MX-774 terminated in 1947. Several test vehicles had been fired using residual funds in 1948 and 1949, after which the Convair MX-774 (Atlas) missile project had been shelved. The company, however, had continued to fund a research program.