 | Vanguard
Vanguard - COSPAR 1958-Beta
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Orbital launch vehicle. Year: 1957. Family: Viking. Country: USA. Status: Hardware. Manufacturer: NRL. Launch vehicle developed by Navy to launch America's first satellite as part of the International Geophysical Year. Von Braun's Jupiter-C launched first US satellite after Vanguard launch failure. Upper stages led to Able upper stage for Thor/Atlas. Launches: 12. Failures: 8. Success Rate: 33.33% pct. First Launch Date: 23 October 1957. Last Launch Date: 18 September 1959. Launch data is: complete. LEO Payload: 9 kg. to: 200 km Orbit. Liftoff Thrust: 12,630 kgf. Liftoff Thrust: 123.90 kN. Total Mass: 10,050 kg. Core Diameter: 1.14 m. Total Length: 23.00 m. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 5.66 million. in 1985 unit dollars.
- Model: Vanguard. Family: Viking.
Original version with Grand Central final stage. LEO Payload: 9 kg. to: 200 km Orbit. Liftoff Thrust: 12,630 kgf. Liftoff Thrust: 123.90 kN. Total Mass: 10,050 kg. Core Diameter: 1.14 m. Total Length: 23.00 m.
Stage Data - Vanguard- Stage Number: 1. 1 x Vanguard Gross Mass: 7,661 kg. Empty Mass: 811 kg. Thrust (vac): 13,745 kgf. Isp: 270 sec. Burn time: 145 sec. Isp(sl): 248 sec. Diameter: 1.14 m. Span: 1.14 m. Length: 12.20 m. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 1. X-405 Status: Hardware.
- Stage Number: 2. 1 x Delta A Gross Mass: 2,164 kg. Empty Mass: 694 kg. Thrust (vac): 3,447 kgf. Isp: 271 sec. Burn time: 115 sec. Isp(sl): 0.000 sec. Diameter: 0.84 m. Span: 0.84 m. Length: 5.36 m. Propellants: Nitric acid/UDMH No Engines: 1. AJ10-118 Status: Hardware.
- Stage Number: 3. 1 x Vanguard 3 Gross Mass: 210 kg. Empty Mass: 31 kg. Thrust (vac): 1,179 kgf. Isp: 230 sec. Burn time: 31 sec. Isp(sl): 210 sec. Diameter: 0.50 m. Span: 0.50 m. Length: 2.00 m. Propellants: Solid No Engines: 1. GCRC Status: Hardware.
Vanguard Chronology
1955 Mar 19 - Plan for a United States satellite in the International Geophysical Year Dr. Alan T. Waterman of the National Science Foundation presented President Dwight Eisenhower with a plan to implement the United States' portion of the International Geophysical Year satellite experiment.
1955 Jul 29 - Eisenhower approves earth satellites for IGY President Eisenhower endorsed the IGY proposal for the launching of small earth-circling satellites.
1955 Aug 1 - Vanguard selected to launch first US satellite. Ad Hoc Committee on Special Capabilities rejects Army/Von Brauns's Project Orbiter (Redstone) and USAF Atlas proposals; selects Navy/Vanguard for first US satellite.
1955 Sep 9 - Project Vanguard began operations. The Department of Defense's Stewart Committee reviewed the alternatives for an IGY satellite program: wait for the development of an Atlas launcher, use a modified Redstone, or develop a rocket derived from the Viking missile. The committee voted seven to two in favor of abandoning Project Orbiter (Redstone) and developing Vanguard (Viking derivative with and Aerobee-Hi upper stage). Secretary Donald Quarles ruled with the committee majority in the Department of Defense Policy Committee, which approved the decision. The Department of Defense wrote a letter to the Department of Navy authorizing the Navy Research Laboratory to proceed with the Vanguard proposal. The responsibility for carrying out the program was placed with the Office of Naval Research. Objectives of Project Vanguard were: to develop and procure a satellite-launching vehicle; to place at least one satellite in orbit around the earth during IGY; to accomplish one scientific experiment; and to track flight to demonstrate the satellite actually attained orbit.
1955 Oct 7 - Vanguard contract awarded. Prime contract for Project Vanguard awarded the Martin Co.
1957 Apr 11 - Vanguard payload tested on sounding rocket. U.S.-IGY scientific satellite equipment, including a radio transmitter and instruments for measuring temperature, pressure, cosmic rays, and meteoric dust encounters, was tested above earth for the first time, as a rocket containing this equipment was fired by the Navy to a 126-mile altitude.
1957 May 1 - Vanguard suborbital test. Vanguard Test Vehicle (TV-1), a modified Martin Viking first-stage and Vanguard solid-propellant third-stage Grand Central Rocket as second-stage, launched with instrumented nose cone to an altitude of 121 miles and met all test objectives.
1957 Oct 1 - Vanguard tracking system operational. Project Vanguard world-wide tracking system (minitrack) became operational.
1957 Oct 9 - Vanguard supported by Eisenhower. President Eisenhower in a White House press release congratulated the Soviet scientists on SPUTNIK I. He gave a brief history of the development of the U.S.-IGY satellite program and pointed to the separation of Project Vanguard from work on ballistic missiles.
1957 Oct 23 19:22 - Vanguard suborbital test. (Vanguard TV2) Vanguard TV-2 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 175 km. IGY Vanguard prototype (TV-2) with simulated second and third stage successfully met test objectives, by reaching 109-mile altitude and 4,250 mph.
1957 Dec 6 16:44 - Vehicle lost thrust and exploded after 2 seconds.. Vanguard TV-3 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A.
1958 Feb 5 7:33 - Control system malfunction - control lost after 57 sec.. Vanguard TV-3BU Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 6 km.
1958 Mar 17 12:15 - Vanguard TV-4 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A.
1958 Apr 29 2:53 - Third Stage failed to ignite.. Vanguard TV-5 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 550 km.
1958 May 28 3:46 - Improper third stage trajectory - unknown cause.. Vanguard SLV-1 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 3,500 km.
1958 Jun 26 5:00 - Premature second stage cutoff. Unknown cause.. Vanguard SLV-2 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 165 km.
1958 Sep 26 15:38 - Insufficient 2nd stage thrust - unknown cause.. Vanguard SLV-3 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 426 km.
1959 Feb 17 15:55 - Vanguard SLV-4 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A.
1959 Apr 14 2:49 - Failure. Vanguard SLV-5 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 100 km.
1959 Jun 22 20:16 - Failure - unknown cause.. Vanguard SLV-6 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A. Apogee: 140 km.
1959 Sep 18 5:20 - Vanguard/X-248 SLV-7 Cape Canaveral. LC: LC18A.
1960 Mar 17 - Vanguard second anniversary. VANGUARD I still in orbit and transmitting on its second anniversary after traveling 131,318,211 miles. NASA reported that VANGUARD I orbit was being altered by solar pressure.
1961 Mar 17 - Vanguard third anniversary. Vanguard I completed third year in orbit and was still transmitting. Vanguard I provided much useful data on orbits, including the slight pear-shape of the Earth and the effect of solar pressure. Vanguard also provided the second stage for the Able, Delta, and Able-Star, as well as the third stage of Scout, pioneering solid-propellant stages used in Polaris and Minuteman.
Bibliography:- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/space.html.
- Koelle, Heinz Hermann,, Handbook of Astronautical Engineering, McGraw-Hill,New York, 1961.
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