Saturn I

Saturn I

The first Saturn I was launched October 27, 1961.
Function	Large booster technology Large scientific satellite payloads in LEO Apollo spacecraft development
Manufacturer	Chrysler (S-I) Douglas (S-IV) Convair (S-V)
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	180 ft (55 m)
Diameter	21 ft 8 in (6.60 m)
Mass	1,124,000 lb (510,000 kg)
Stages	2 or 3 (3rd stage flew, but never in an active configuration)
Capacity
Payload to 185 km Circular Low Earth orbit, 28° tilt
Mass	20,000 lb (9,100 kg) (2 stages)
Payload to TLI
Mass	4,900 lb (2,220 kg) (2 stages)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, LC-37 and LC-34
Total launches	10
Success(es)	10
Failure(s)	0
First flight	October 27, 1961
Last flight	July 30, 1965
Type of passengers/cargo	Boilerplate Apollo CM, Pegasus
First stage – S-I
Powered by	8 H-1
Maximum thrust	1,500,000 lbf (6.7 MN)
Propellant	RP-1 / LOX
Second stage – S-IV
Powered by	6 RL10
Maximum thrust	90,000 lbf (400 kN)
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Third stage – S-V - Flew inactively[1]
Powered by	2 RL10
Maximum thrust	133 kN (30,000 lbf)
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
[edit on Wikidata]

The Saturn I^[a] was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to 20,000-pound (9,100 kg) low Earth orbit payloads.^[2] The rocket's first stage was built as a cluster of propellant tanks engineered from older rocket tank designs, leading critics to jokingly refer to it as "Cluster's Last Stand". Its development was taken over from the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1958 by the newly formed civilian NASA. Its design proved sound and flexible. It was successful in initiating the development of liquid hydrogen-fueled rocket propulsion, launching the Pegasus satellites, and flight verification of the Apollo command and service module launch phase aerodynamics. Ten Saturn I rockets were flown before it was replaced by the heavy lift derivative Saturn IB, which used a larger, higher total impulse second stage and an improved guidance and control system. It also led the way to development of the super-heavy lift Saturn V which carried the first men to landings on the Moon in the Apollo program.

President John F. Kennedy identified the Saturn I, and the SA-5 launch in particular, as being the point where US lift capability would surpass the Soviets, after being behind since Sputnik.^[3][4]

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