Both Atlas V 400 and 500 configurations incorporate a stretched version of the Centaur upper stage (CIII), which can be configured as a single-engine Centaur (SEC) or a dual engine Centaur (DEC). The Atlas V family of launch vehicles can be launched from either Cape Canaveral Air Station Launch Complex 41 or Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 3W.

The designs ran the gamut from short range solid propellant rockets through Mach 3 ramjets to intercontinental boost-glide vehicles. General Electric was also responsible for firing captured German V-2 rockets, training Army personnel in their use, and the Bumper project which created a two-stage vehicle using a V-2 and a WAC-Corporal. See individual entries for the Hermes A-1, Hermes A-3, Hermes B-1, and Hermes C.

The company planned to first build a prototype Micro Launcher system. This would fire 1.3 mm projectiles (barely visible to the naked eye) and demonstrate several new technologies, including the use of three pairs of supplemental gas injectors along the barrel (as used in the Oberth gun and V-3). The full-scale gun would be bored into a mountain in Alaska for launches into high-inclination orbits. The gun would have a muzzle velocity of 7 km/second and fire 5,000 kg projectiles. The payload would be 1.7 m in diameter and 9 m long. Following burn of the rocket motor aboard the projetile, a net payload of 3300 kg would be placed into low earth orbit.