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Conestoga-1620
Conestoga-1620
(METEOR) [EER]
The Conestoga-1620 was the only version ever flown of the modular Conestoga-1000 Series launch vehicle designed by EER.
While the Castor-4B formed the basic vehicle in multi-unit parallel mountings, different three axis stabilized upper-stages were planned, all based on Thiokol Star motors. A small hydrazine powered HMACS (Hydrazine Maneuvering and Attitude Control System) stage could also be added for increased performance and accuracy. More configurations, featuring stretched Castor motors were planned. After the first vehicle failed and the MSTI 5 satellite planned for the second mission was cancelled, the company ran out of money and the program was shelved.
Encoding system:
| 1. Digit = Type of core and
cluster motors 1 = Castor-4A/-4B 2 = ? 3 = Castor-4AXL/-4BXL 4 = ? 5 = GEM-40/-40VN 2. Digit = Number of strap-ons around core |
3. Digit = Type of upper
stage 0 = None 1 = Star-37FM 2 = Star-48V 3 = Orion-50 4 = ? 5 = Star-48A 6 = Star-63D 7 = Star-63V 8 = ? 9 = HMACS |
4. Digit = Type of 2nd
upper stage 0 = None 1 = Star-37FM 2 = Star-48V 3 = Orion-50 4 = ? 5 = Star-48A 6 = Star-63D 7 = Star-63V 8 = ? 9 = HMACS |
| Version | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conestoga-1620 | 2 × Castor-4B 2 × Castor-4A |
2 × Castor-4B | Castor-4B | Star-48V |
| Performance (kg) | LEO | LPEO | SSO | GTO | GEO | MolO | IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conestoga-1620 | 1179 | 1000 | - |
No: TNo Type Date LS Payload
1 1 Conestoga-1620 23.10.1995 WI LA-0A F METEOR Flight 1: self-destructed at 45 seconds after faulty navigation data produced extensive nozzle movements and depleted the TVC Launch sites: WI = Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, USAF Failure
