This page lists major spacecraft, space stations, and launch vehicles for the Eyes Turned Skyward timeline.

Most of the vehicles derived from the Thor IRBM fall into this category, beginning with the original Thor-Delta (a modified Thor-Able with an Altair third stage) in 1960. Details on the OTL vehicles (which are the same as the Eyes Turned Skywards vehicles up through the Delta 3000) can be found at Wikipedia or Astronautix. There were a very large number of them which differed only slightly, as a result of McDonnell Douglas' magnificently successful attempts to keep the crash project Delta in production despite attempts to replace it.

Winner of the ELVRP I competition for a new small-medium class launch vehicle to replace Atlas, (existing) Delta, Titan IIIB, and other ICBM or IRBM-derived launch vehicles in the 1980s (Post 16). Derived from older Delta designs, it however differs significantly in two key respects. First, it has a larger diameter kerolox core, allowing it to carry more engines and more boosters than previous versions of the Delta. This allows a useful booster-less launch mode. Second, instead of the hypergolic or solid upper stages previously used, it uses a Centaur-D, significantly improving upper stage ISP and performance. Optionally, for high energy missions it can use a Star 48B solid third stage. Altogether, this greatly increases the maximum payload compared to previous Deltas. Built by McDonnell Douglas.

Payloads beyond Earth orbit use optional Star 48B third stage (are therefore technically for the Delta 4005, etc.) C3 = 0 corresponds to TLI, C3 = 15 to TMI.

One of the first launch vehicles to be designed as a launch vehicle from the ground up, with no IRBM or ICBM heritage. The Saturn project began in the late 1950s and culminated in the Saturn V used to launch the Moon missions, Skylab, and Spacelab.

Pre-point of divergence, unaffected by changes in the timeline. Information can be found on Wikipedia and Astronautix.

Payload to LEO: 9,000 kg

Payload to TLI: 2,200 kg

Flight Record: 10 flights, 10 successes

Booster used for unmanned tests of the Lunar Module and Apollo Command and Service Module, as well as the manned Apollo 7 flight and the ASTP I and Skylab missions. Pre-point of divergence, design and capability unchanged by the timeline. One additional flight (Skylab 5). Information can be found at Wikipedia and Astron utix.

Payload to LEO (237×237 at 51.6 degrees): 16400 kg

Flight Record: 10 flights, 10 successes

Booster built for Apollo lunar flights. Two additional flights: Apollo 18 and the launch of the Spacelab mission. Information can be found at…the usual places.

Payload to TLI: 47,000 kg

Payload to LEO (2 stage): 118,000 kg (Note: capabilities of the Skylab and Spacelab stations mean no more than 80,000 kg is ever used on any LEO-only flight)

Flight Record: 15 launches, 15 successes

Contracted in 1971, the Saturn 1C was the key launch vehicle of the Nixon-era directive to focus on the space station aspects of NASA's original plans, dropping the expensive unknown technology of the “Space Shuttle” to focus on the key areas of long-term spaceflight, space operations, and space sciences. The Saturn 1C uses the same S-IVB stage built for Apollo's Saturn 1B and Saturn V, but with the new J2-S engine offering improved ISP and thrust. The Convair first stage of the Saturn-1B was replaced with a Boeing-built stage consisting of a 6.6m monolithic tank structure, with a single F1-A replacing the original 8 H-1 engines of the Saturn 1B. The development and testing of this stage was the key pacing item in the Saturn 1C's development. First unmanned flight took place in 1977, and the rocket began regular use launching Apollo and Aardvark supply craft, averaging four or five flights a year and rapidly becoming the most-flown NASA launch vehicle, a title from which it would only be dethroned by its successor, the Saturn Multibody family which were themselves developed from Saturn 1C.

Among the key capabilities of the Saturn 1C was the throttle added to the F-1 as part of F-1A development. While the F-1 (and F-1A) were originally designed with the aim of being used on the Saturn V where late-burn acceleration was controlled by shutting down engines, the F-1A had the ability to throttle to 75%, a capability that was critical in avoiding excessive acceleration later in the S-1E burn on Saturn 1C.

Vehicle info

Vehicle Performance

(beyond Earth orbit missions use optional Centaur-E third stage; C3=0 corresponds to TLI, C3=15 to TMI)

In addition to the small-medium vehicle covered by the ELVRP I competition, the Air Force needed a larger vehicle to fill the medium-large payload role that had previously been provided by the Titan IIIC, especially with the beginning of SDI and the large payloads expected from it. This requirement led to the ELVRP II competition, as in Post 21, a competition which was won by the Boeing/McDonnell Douglas Saturn Multibody, as described by Post 22. A derivative of the Saturn IC, Saturn Multibody features a number of improvements over that vehicle, most prominently the ability to add Titan-derived solid rocket boosters to increase the maximum payload, a stretched S-IVB (the S-IVC) on some variants to further improve performance, and last but not least the ability to gang up three Saturn Multibody core stages to launch a nearly Saturn V-sized payload into orbit.

The Saturn Multibody designation system is composed of a letter followed by two numbers. The letter says whether the vehicle is Medium or Heavy, that is whether it has one or three Saturn Multibody cores. The first number can have the values 0, 2, or 4, and describes the number of solid rocket boosters attached. The second number can have the values 2 or 3 and indicates whether the upper stage is the S-IVB (2) or the S-IVC (3). The S-IVC is only used on the M43 or H03 versions of the vehicle, since it is too heavy to offer much of a performance benefit to the smaller variants.

Vehicle contracted 1981 under ELVRP II, first flight planned for 1985/86.

For Saturn M02 only, Centaur-E third stage assumed for all beyond Earth orbit missions. C3 = 0 corresponds to TLI, C3 = 15 to TMI.

See Post 1116 for discussion of unit costs for Apollo Block IV, AARDV, and Saturn Multibody launches.

The Titan launch vehicle family not only served as the workhorse of the Air Force launch program from 1965 through 1982, but also formed a key part of the Air Force's ICBM force, with the Titan II being the largest ICBM in the US arsenal through the 1960s and 1970s.

Backup system for SM-65 Atlas ICBM.

Backup system for LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM, 63 Titan IIs were in put into service as ICBMs.

Modified TItan II for launch of the manned Gemini capsule into orbit.

Test bed for the Transtage upper stage used on the Titan IIIC.

Smaller version of the Titan with an Agena upper stage.

Workhorse version of the Titan with large solid rocket boosters.

Modified Titan IIIC with no third stage. Used to launch large low Earth orbit payloads, ie. spy satellites.

Titan IIIC modified with a Centaur third stage. Designed to serve as NASA's interim planetary launch vehicle during the 1970s. Far more capable than the preceding Atlas-Centaurs.

Unmanned version of Titan IIIM for NASA use. Offered with a variety of third stages: Centaur, Transstage, and Agena. Titan IIIF was cancelled along with Titan IIIM in 1968 and replaced by Titan IIIE in NASA plans.

A modified Titan IIIC with 7-segment solid rocket motors and advanced controls, Titan IIIM was fitted with advanced control systems that were intended to make it usable for manned launches as part of the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program. While all work on Titan IIIM would end with MOL's cancellation, the 7-segment solids would survive as elements both in the ELVRP II Titan V proposal and the successful Saturn Multibody proposal.

The Proton was started as a Chelomei “Super ICBM” program for 100 megaton H-Bombs (GRAU index 8K82K). After Khrushchev was ousted by the Soviet Union leaders, the project was transformed into one aiming to provide a medium launch vehicle, something for which the design was much better suited. The Proton was used for the unsuccessful Zond program to fly a cosmonaut around the Moon and launched first Alamaz and Salyut space stations before replaced in 1980s by the Vulkan Standard Launch vehicle

Payload to LEO (200×200 km at 52°) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome: 19600 kg

Started as R-7a ICBM program, became a family of launch vehicles (GRAU index 11A511). Its importance in spaceflight history is undeniable, as it served as the launch vehicle for first satellite (“Sputnik”), the first human to orbit Earth (Yuri Gagarin) and all Russian manned vehicles from the 1960s to early 1980s. After the termination of the Soyuz spacecraft program in favor of TKS in 1980, the Soyuz rocket is still used to launch smaller satellites than would be viable for the Vulkan, but which are too large for Tsyklon or Cosmos.

Soviet moonrocket designed by Korolev. After his death, Vasiliy Mishin took over the project. Various issues produced four consecutive failures. The troubled N-1 program was canceled in 1972, and Mishin would be replaced by Glushko in the same year.

After the cancellation of N-1, Valentin Glushko proposed a family of rockets that could fulfill a wide range of needs for the military and the space program, including the Soyuz and Proton rocket. Much like the Saturn Multibody concept proposed three years later, it would be a common-core design using up to five cores powered by a new high-thrust kerolox engine, the RD-150.

The core version of the launcher family (GRAU index 11K55 )

Payload to LEO (200 km at 52°) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome: 21000 kg

Vehicle info

To boost performance to light heavy-lift levels, the Vulkan-Herakles gangs together three standard Vulkan cores as a first stage (GRAU index 11K77 )

Payload to LEO (200 km at 52°) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome: 60000 kg

The ultimate version of the Vulkan, the Vulkan-Atlas uses five Vulkan cores as a first stage to provide true heavy-lift performance (GRAU index 11K37 )

Payload to LEO (200 km at 52°) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome: ~100000 kg

The history of ESA and their Europa launch vehicles is discussed primarily in the three posts Post 9, Post 12, and Post 17

Constructed of stages from all of the major ELDO member states, the Europa 1 functioned more as a political and technical feasibility test than a functional launch vehicle.

Payload to LEO (200 km at polar orbit) from Woomera: 1200 kg

Payload to LEO (550 km at 28.5 degrees) from Kourou: 1150 kg

Vehicle info

Advanced variant of Europa 1, with an additional P0.7 kick stage used to optimize payload to geostationary tranfer orbit. Main launch vehicle for ESA from 1971 until the introduction of Europa 2-TA in 1975.

Payload to LEO (200 km equator) from Kourou: 1440 kg

Payload to GTO (200 km x 35700 km at equator) from Kourou: 440 kg

Payload to GEO (35700 km at equator) from Kourou: 230 kg

Vehicle info

Thrust-augmented variant of Europa 2. Using two Black Diamant solid rocket boosters attached to the first stage to boost payload. Active from 1975 in parallel with continuing Europa 2 launches. As of 1982, intended to be replaced by the all-liquid Europa 2-HE after Europa 3 introduction.

Payload to LEO (200 km equator) from Kourou: 2110 kg

Payload to GTO (200 km x 35700 km at equator) from Kourou: 600 kg

Payload to GEO (35700 km at equator) from Kourou: 300 kg

Europa 2 variant with new high-energy Aurore-B upper stage replacing Coralie. Studied as part of Europa 3 development in early 1980s, intended to be developed alongside Europa 4 family to fufill European launch needs with single set of common components. Notably, designing for this potential drove the selection of the 4.0m dimeter for the Aurore stage–a balance between insufficient diameter and excessive length for Europa 3/4 and excessive overhang on Europa 2 that might result in flight instabilities. First flight unscheduled.

Vehicle Info

Payload to LEO (Spacelab, 430×430 km, 51.6 degrees): 3800 kg

Payload to GTO (185×35786 km at 3.5 degrees) from Korou: 650 kg

More powerful vehicle developed to supplement existing Europa 2-TA and open up new lines of incremental evolution with introduction of two new stages, the French-built Aurore hydrogen/oxygen stage using 6xHM-7B and the UK-built kerosene-LOX Griffin first stage, a “super Blue Streak” powered by 4xRZ.2 engines. Development begun in late 70s, first flight projected as 1985.

Vehicle info

Payload to LEO (430×430 at 51.6 degrees): 7600 kg

Payload to GTO (35786×185 km at 3.5 degrees) from Kourou: 1800 kg (with Astris third stage)

Europa 4 was part of Europa 3 planning, intended as a future development of a flexible system of launch options via the combination of the already-developed Aurore and Griffin stages, combined with a variable mix of up to 4 Blue Streak boosters and assorted upper stages. Combining heritage of the Europa 2 and Europa 3 development cycles, it was intended to offer the capacity necesary for the late 80s and 90s to support Earth-focused flights like comsats and commercial payloads, interplanetary probes, or even the long-discussed European manned space launch capability. Many variants were studied with a common designation systems of the form “Europa 4XY” where X was the number of Blue Streak boosters and Y indicated the precence of additional third stages, with “u” indicating the standard third stage, the half-length Aurore-B, and “a” indicating any Astris stage used. Europa 40 and 40a are identical to existing Europa 3 configurations. The system was intended for development following first Europa 3 launch.

Component info

Configurations and Payload Info

Test station launched as much to gain experience with space station operations as anything else. Nearly unsuccessful due to failure of the sun/micrometeroid shield at launch, but saved by quick thinking at NASA (as described in Post 6 and Post 7. Played host to four astronaut crews in the Skylab 2, 3, 4, and 5 missions over a period of more than two years, before its controlled deorbiting by an AARDVark bus after Skylab 5.

Sole American space station as of 1982. Heavily modified and upgraded version of Skylab, it was designed to serve as the home of ASTP II, where Soviet and American spacefarers would spend several months together in space. After doing so, it became a joint US-European station with the addition of the European Research Module, ERM, in October 1979. Routinely plays host to American and European astronauts.

American-led space station program started in the wake of the Vulkan panic by President Reagan. Building on the experience gained from Spacelab and the capabilities of the Multibody rocket family, Freedom is much larger and more capable than the previous station, having been designed from the ground up to serve as a research outpost in space. It also includes significant material contributions from Europe, Japan, and Canada, making it a more international station than Spacelab.

Chelomei-designed military space stations, similar to the American MOL. Launched under the Salyut name.

General Soviet codename for all space stations. Excluding the Almaz design, the Salyut family consists of a series of DOS-derived stations leading up to Salyut 7, launched in 1983.

Advanced Soviet space station under development in 1983, for launch aboard Vulkan.

Workhorse of the NASA human spaceflight program. Gemini and Mercury were test vehicles; Apollo is the real operational vessel. The Block II version was used for lunar landings and early station flights before the introduction of the Block III, while the Block III and Block III+ have become reliable crew taxis by 1983, shuttling personnel back and forth from Spacelab.

Early model of the Apollo spacecraft lacking a docking adapter and designed for use on the Earth orbital test flights Apollo 1 and 2. After fire broke out in the Apollo 1 capsule, killing Virgil I. “Gus” Grisson, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee, NASA cancelled all plans to use the Block I for human flights, skipping directly to the Block II for the Apollo 7 test flight. Several did fly on uncrewed test flights, however.

Apollo spacecraft model designed for use in lunar missions. Besides being used as the principal Earth-Moon and Moon-Earth transport spacecraft on all Apollo lunar flights, it also served as a crew transport vehicle for the Skylab 2, 3, and 4 missions.

Model for low Earth orbit. Although the designation was first used in the Apollo Application Project, it was later reused for the Apollo ferry spacecraft that served on the Skylab 5 and early Spacelab missions. Significant changes were made to better adapt Apollo to its new role as a crew shuttle, such as shortening the Service Module, reducing the size of the fuel tanks, and replacing the fuel cell power generation system by batteries.

Advanced model for 5 astronauts with a separate Mission Module. After launch the CSM docks with the MM stored on top of the S-IVB stage (similar to the transposition and docking maneuver during lunar missions) and then proceeds to the space station.

Apollo model developed for use with Space Station Freedom and Saturn Multibody. Built to use additional payload allowed by Saturn M02 compared to Saturn IC, Block IV is built on an enhanced-capacity service module (common with Aardvark Block II) and features a larger, more capable Mission Module, but retains the Block III command module with minor avionics updates.

*A 17th Block II CM was flown as part of Spacelab 5, mated to a Block III SM for systems checkout since the Block III CM was incompatible with Skylab's air mixture compared to that of Spacelab. CM-119 was cannibalized for this purpose. As the critical components tested were Block III, this flight is counted as a primarily Block III flight.

* As of the present post, Block IV has yet to be introduced.

Developed to complement Block III Apollo by providing a cargo transport capability, the Aardvark consists of a Block III Service Module with a large Pressurized Module replacing the Command Module of the Apollo. This allows it to transport tons of food, water, scientific equipment, and other vital supplies to the station. A derivative of this Pressurized Module was used to develop the Block III+ Mission Module. The name is based on the acronym for Autonomous Automated Rendezvous and Docking Vehicle. AARDV mission code with -T suffix also used for assembly flights using AARDV bus as a delivery tug.

Cargo capacity: up to 2 tons of liquids, total capacity of 9,900 kg

As part of the buildup to Freedom, a new Aardvark variant was introduced. This used an enhanced bus to allow the -T variant to serve as a tug for the larger station components such as the inboard truss. Additionally, the pressurized cargo pod was switched to a new 5m diameter, and a new non-pressurized cargo bay inserted between it and the SM.

Designed by Korolev, the Soyuz family of transports has been phased out by 1982 in preference of Chelomei's TKS design. However, during its decade of operation it, like Apollo, became a reliable transport of crews to and from Soviet space stations.

Chelomei vehicle designed to serve as a crew and supply transport to his Almaz stations. While Almaz has not been especially successful, it has been adapted to serve as the main Soviet crew transport to the new Vulkan-launched MOK station, and (while that is being readied for launch) to the interim Salyut 7 station.

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