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Atlas-E/-F OV1
Atlas-F OV1 (OV1 17, OV1 17A,
OV1 18 and OV1 19) [USAF]
The Atlas-E/F OV1 was unique system to launch small research satellites, where each satellite had its own independent OV1 upper stage. It replaced the Atlas-D OV1 combination.
The Convair (General Dynamics) built OV1 consisted of a FW-4S (Altair-3)solid rocket motor and an hydrogen-peroxide attitude control system with 12 nozzles inherited from the Scout rocket. The attitude control system performed separation from the Atlas, oriented the payload stack and provided stabilization, when the solid motor injected the satellite into orbit.
When the Atlas-D first stage was replaced with surplus Atlas-F boosters, the original OV1 launch enclosure was also discarded and replaced by a payload adaptor inherited from the Atlas-E/-F Trident used in the RMP-B reentry test program and a new 2.13 m diameter payload fairing with lenght of 4.94 m built by General Dynamics. This shrowd allowed the accomodation of two or three OV1 propulsion modules side-by-side and also allowed more voluminous payloads.
Four of these vehicles were flown, all successful.
| Version | Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Atlas-E/F OV1 | Atlas-E/F / MA-3 | OV1 / FW-4S (Altair-3) |
| Performance (kg) | LEO | LPEO | SSO | GTO | GEO | MolO | IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas-E/F OV1 (each OV1-PM) | - | 363 | - | - | - | - |
Nr TNr Vehicle Serial Date LS Payload
355 1 Atlas-F OV1 (2×) 107F 06.04.1968 Va ABRES-A2 OV1 13 / OV1 14 362 2 Atlas-F OV1 (2×) 75F 11.07.1968 Va ABRES-A2 OV1 15 (SPADES) / LOADS 1 (OV1 16) 373 3 Atlas-F OV1 (3×) 104F 18.03.1969 Va ABRES-A2 OV1 17 / OV1 18 / OV1 19 / Orbiscal 2 (OV1 17A) 395 4 Atlas-F OV1 (2×) 76F 07.08.1971 Va BMRS-A2 OV1 20 / LOADS 2 / OV1 21 / RTDS / Gridsphere 1 / Gridsphere 2 / Mylar Balloon / Rigidsphere / LCS 4 Launch sites: Va = Vandenberg AFB, California, USA
References:
- J. W. Powell and G. R. Richards, “The Orbiting Vehicle series of satellites”, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Volume 40, pp.417-426, 1987.
- Jos Heyman in MilSatMagazine: Intel... The Orbiting Vehicle Series (OV1)
- Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles: Orbiting Vehicle (OV)
