Saturn I

The Saturn I was United States' first large clustered rocket. Its tanks were derived from the Jupiter and Redstone missile tanks, and its first stage engines were derived from those of the SM-64 Navaho missile. An earlier version of the H-1 engine was also used by the Thor and Jupiter IRBM's. It was conceived in April 1957 by Dr. Wernher von Braun and the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) clustered launch vehicle for carrying manned and unmanned space payloads with a thrust of 1.5 million lbf (6.7 MN). Initial plans called for 30 research and development flights between 1958 and 1963.The final production run however, resulted in the launch of only 10 Saturn I vehicles. The program along with U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) personnel were tranfered to NASA in 1960.

Related Topics:
Jupiter - Redstone - SM-64 Navaho - H-1 - Thor - Jupiter IRBM - Dr. Wernher von Braun - U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) - NASA - 1960

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The Saturn I started out in April 1957 as a heavy lift concept called the Juno V by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency. It was later renamed the Saturn in February 1959. It was designed to be manufactured using existing tooling from Redstone MRBM and Jupiter IRBM missiles. It also used eight modified Thor IRBM/Jupiter IRBM, S-3D, rocket engines. The modified engine was called the H-1 rocket engine. In designing the Saturn I, the ABMA was trying to meet the anticipated needs of the Department of Defense for heavy lift of newer military satellites in the 1960 – 1962 time frame. The ABMA considered the Juno V as a general carrier vehicle for research and development of "offensive and defensive space weapons." Certain specific tasks were forecast for each of the military services, including navigation satellites for the Navy; reconnaissance, communications, and meteorological satellites for the Army and Air Force; support for Air Force manned missions; and surface-to-surface supply for the Army at distances up to 6400 kilometers. For NASA, the ABMA planners considered the possibilities of the Juno V in support of satellites, space probes, and space stations, as well as a test bed for a 6.7 MN (1.5 million lbf) engine and other propulsion systems.

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In the end, the Department of Defense decided that the Saturn was simply too big and expensive for any military mission, and that included men in space. They also thought that big boosters of the Saturn class should be NASA's responsibility because there was no urgent military application for them. The ABMA was transferred to NASA on July 1, 1960, and the Saturn became part of the Apollo program. The Department of Defense turned to the Titan family of rockets for its heavy lift needs, in the form of the Titan III and Titan IV. A Titan III has about the same lift capability of a Saturn IB, but costs less to manufacture and launch.

Related Topics:
July 1 - 1960 - Titan

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The main payload of the Saturn I was the Apollo Spacecraft.

Related Topics:
Saturn I - Apollo Spacecraft

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Further development led to the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets.

Related Topics:
Saturn IB - Saturn V

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