Contracted Atlas

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Contracted Atlas

Part of Atlas

WS-107
WS-107 Concept 2. First mock-up of the Atlas missile in the three-chamber configuration.
Credit: Ronald Wade

American orbital launch vehicle. The 1954 design for the Atlas as contracted for by the Air Force used three main engines to power a 110 metric ton rocket able to send a 1400 kg nuclear warhead over a 10,200 km range. CEP was 3700 m. The missile actually delivered six years later would have the same dimensions and launch mass, but 63% more range and four times better accuracy.

Status: Design 1954. Payload: 1,360 kg (2,990 lb). Thrust: 725.00 kN (162,986 lbf). Gross mass: 109,000 kg (240,000 lb). Height: 23.00 m (75.00 ft). Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft).

Maximum range: 10,200 km (6,300 mi). CEP: 3.70 km (2.20 mi).

Family: orbital launch vehicle. Country: USA. Agency: Convair.

1953 October - . LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Contracted Atlas.

Teapot Committee's first output - . Nation: USA. ICBM could use smaller warhead.

1954 March - . LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Contracted Atlas.

US tests confirm feasibility of small thermonuclear warheads - . Nation: USA.
The United States exploded its first "droppable" hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands. A second U.S. thermonuclear device was successfully tested on 20 March. These tests as part of Operation Castle confirmed the feasibility of the development of lightweight, high-yield thermonuclear weapons. This advance allowed the previously restrictive performance characteristics of the Atlas to be relaxed to the point where continued development was within the existing "state-of-the-art."

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