The Altair was a

solid-fuel rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants ( fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persian ...

with a fiberglass casing, initially developed for use as the

third stage ''Third Stage'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Boston, released on September 26, 1986, on MCA Records. It was recorded at Boston co-founder Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio over a long, strained, six-year period "between floods ...

Vanguard rocket The Vanguard rocket was intended to be the first launch vehicle the United States would use to place a satellite into orbit. Instead, the Sputnik crisis caused by the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 led the U.S., after the failure of Vanguard TV-3 ...

s in 1959. It was manufactured by Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) as the X-248. It was also sometimes called the Burner 1.

Altair

The X-248 was one of two third-stage designs used during Project Vanguard. Early launches used a stage developed by the

Grand Central Rocket Company The Lockheed Propulsion Company was a division of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation located at 1500 Crafton Avenue in the Mentone, California area northeast of Redlands, California, adjacent to the Santa Ana River, from 1961 to 1975. It developed, t ...

, but later launches used the X-248 which enabled the Vanguard to launch more massive payloads. The X-248 was used as the second stage of some early Thor flights. These vehicles were designated "

Thor-Burner The Thor-Burner was an American expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or disca ...

". Altairs were used as the third stage of early Delta rockets. The fourth stage of the

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

rocket also used the "Altair" stage.

Altair 2

The Altair 2 (X-258) Thiokol solid rocket engine first flew in 1963 and was the kick stage motor for

Delta D The Delta D, Thrust Augmented Delta or Thor-Delta D was an American expendable launch system used to launch two communications satellites in 1964 and 1965. It was derived from the Delta C, and was a member of the Delta family of rockets. The thre ...

, Scout A, Scout X-4, and

Orbiting Vehicle Orbiting Vehicle or OV, originally designated SATAR (SATellite - Atmospheric Research), comprised five disparate series of standardized American satellites operated by the US Air Force, launched between 1965 and 1971. Forty seven satellite ...

satellites. It was retired in 1973.

References

Rocket stages Solid-fuel rockets {{Rocket-stub

Altair

Altair 2

See also

References