Athena II

Athena II
	Athena II at LC-46 with Lunar Prospector
Function	Small expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin; Alliant Techsystems
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	28.2 metres (93 ft)
Diameter	2.36 metres (7 ft 9 in)
Mass	120,700 kilograms (266,100 lb)
Stages	Four
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	2,065 kilograms (4,553 lb)
Payload to SSO
Mass	1,165 kilograms (2,568 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	593 kilograms (1,307 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Athena
Comparable	Falcon 1; Minotaur IV; Taurus
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-46; Vandenberg AFB SLC-6
Total launches	3
Success(es)	2
Failure(s)	1
First flight	7 January 1998
Last flight	24 September 1999
First stage – Castor 120
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	1,900 kilonewtons (430,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	280 sec
Burn time	83 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
Second stage – Castor 120
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	1,900 kilonewtons (430,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	280 sec
Burn time	83 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
Third stage (Athena II) –
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	189.2 kilonewtons (42,500 lbf)
Specific impulse	293 sec
Burn time	150 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
Third stage (Athena IIc) – Castor 30
Engines	1 solid
Thrust	258.9 kilonewtons (58,200 lbf)
Specific impulse	294 sec
Burn time	143 seconds
Propellant	HTPB
Fourth stage –
Engines	4
Thrust	882 newtons (198 lbf)
Specific impulse	222 sec
Burn time	1,500 seconds
Propellant	Hydrazine

The Athena II is an American small expendable launch system which was used for three launches between 1998 and 1999,^[3] and which was scheduled to return to service in 2012 but has not been flown again as of January 2021. It is a member of the Athena family of rockets, along with the smaller Athena I. Future launches would use the Athena IIc configuration, which features a different third stage.^[4]

The Athena II is a four-stage rocket, consisting of solid first, second and third stages, and a monopropellant liquid-fuelled fourth stage. The first and second stages are Castor 120s, which are also used on some versions of the Taurus rocket. An motor was used as the third stage on launches during the 1990s, however when it returns to service in 2012 the Castor 30, which is under development for the Taurus II,^[1] will be used instead.^[4] The fourth stage is an , fuelled by hydrazine and propelled by four engines, which is used for final insertion.^[5]^[6]

Prior to its retirement in 1999, Athena II launches were made from Launch Complex 46 at Spaceport Florida and Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. LC-46 will also be used for Athena IIc launches, with Launch Pad 0B of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and of the Kodiak Launch Complex also offered. If a launch from Vandenberg is ordered, Space Launch Complex 8 will be used instead of SLC-6, which was rebuilt as a Delta IV launch complex following the Athena's initial retirement.^[7]

During the 1990s, three Athena II launches were conducted, with one failure. Its maiden flight was conducted from LC-46 at Spaceport Florida, and lifted off at 02:28 GMT on 7 January 1997. The launch, which was the first to take place from Spaceport Florida, successfully placed the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into orbit for NASA. The next Athena II launch took place from SLC-6 at Vandenberg on 27 April 1999, with the Ikonos satellite for Space Imaging. The launch ended in failure after the payload fairing failed to separate, and as a result the rocket had too much mass to achieve orbital velocity.^[8] The third launch also took place from SLC-6 at Vandenberg, on 24 September 1999. The payload, Ikonos 1, was also for Space Imaging, and successfully reached orbit.^[3]^[9]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Taurus II" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Kyle, Ed (26 March 2010). "Taurus II". Space Launch Report. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Wade, Mark. "Athena". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Lockheed Martin and ATK Announce 2nd Generation Athena Launch Vehicles". Lockheed Martin. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
^ Krebs, Gunter. "Athena (LLV / LMLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Wade, Mark. "OAM". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Scully, Janene (26 March 2010). "Firms team to revive Athena rocket". Lompoc Record. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ "Lockheed: Ikonos Fell into Sea". Wired. 29 April 1999. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[OSC-TII-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Taurus II" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[SLR-TII-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b Kyle, Ed (26 March 2010). "Taurus II". Space Launch Report. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[EA-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Wade, Mark. "Athena". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[2G-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Lockheed Martin and ATK Announce 2nd Generation Athena Launch Vehicles". Lockheed Martin. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2012.

[GSP-5] Krebs, Gunter. "Athena (LLV / LMLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[OAM-6] Wade, Mark. "OAM". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[LR-7] Scully, Janene (26 March 2010). "Firms team to revive Athena rocket". Lompoc Record. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[8] "Lockheed: Ikonos Fell into Sea". Wired. 29 April 1999. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

[JSR-LL-9] McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

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Current	Angara A5 Antares 230+ Ariane 5 Atlas V Ceres-1 Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy GSLV Mk II Mk III H-IIA Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11^† Kaituozhe 2 LauncherOne Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 7 7A 8 11 Minotaur I IV V C OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qased Rocket 3^† Safir Shavit Simorgh^† Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque-1^†
In development	Agnibaan Amur Angara 1.2 Antariksh - 1 Ariane 6 Bloostar Chetak Cyclone-4M Eris Firefly Alpha Beta H3 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 921 rocket 9 Miura 5 Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 Nuri OS-M2 OS-M4 Orbex Prime Phoenix SLV-1T SLV-VT SLS Soyuz-7 SSLV Starship Terran 1 Terran R Vega C Vega E Vikram - I Vikram - II Vikram - III Vulcan Zero Zhuque-2
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Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates historical or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but did not ever succeed (never did or has performed a successful orbital launch)

show v t Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Antares 230+ Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy LauncherOne Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus Rocket 3
In development	Firefly Alpha Beta New Glenn SLS Starship Terran 1 Vulcan
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230** Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II N-I* N-II* Pilot Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines

Athena II

See also[]

References[]