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35-505: A member of the Redstone rocket family , Jupiter-C was designed by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), under the direction of Wernher von Braun . Three Jupiter-C flights were made. These were followed by satellite launches with the vehicle designated as Juno I (see Juno I below or the Juno I article). All were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida . Each vehicle consisted of

70-517: A vertically launched V-2 became the first human-made object to reach outer space on June 20, 1944. The R-7 Semyorka was the first intercontinental ballistic missile . The largest ballistic missile attack in history took place on 1 October 2024 when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched about 200 missiles at Israel , a distance of about 1,500 kilometers. The missiles arrived about 15 minutes after launch. It

105-469: A lower throw-weight. The primary reasons to choose a depressed trajectory are to evade anti-ballistic missile systems by reducing the time available to shoot down the attacking vehicle (especially during the vulnerable burn-phase against space-based ABM systems) or a nuclear first-strike scenario. An alternate, non-military purpose for a depressed trajectory is in conjunction with the spaceplane concept with use of airbreathing jet engines , which requires

140-400: A missile's warheads , reentry vehicles , self-contained dispensing mechanisms, penetration aids , and any other components that are part of the delivered payload, and not of the rocket itself (such as the launch rocket booster and launch fuel). Throw-weight may refer to any type of warhead, but in normal modern usage, it refers almost exclusively to nuclear or thermonuclear payloads. It

175-467: A modified Redstone ballistic missile with two solid-propellant upper stages. The tanks of the Redstone were lengthened by 8 ft (2.4 m) to provide additional propellant. The instrument compartment was also smaller and lighter than the Redstone's. The second and third stages were clustered in a "tub" atop the vehicle. The second stage was an outer ring of eleven scaled-down Sergeant rocket engines;

210-696: A satellite into orbit before the Soviet Union had the ABMA been allowed to attempt a satellite launch in August 1956, the Eisenhower administration wanted the first U.S. satellite to be launched by a civilian rocket developed by American engineers instead of a rocket derived from a military missile program and developed by the German engineers of Operation Paperclip . Additionally, the administration saw value in

245-441: A simple steel table, the vehicle was programmed so that it was traveling at an angle of 40 degrees from the horizontal at burnout of the first stage, which occurred 157 seconds after launch. At first-stage burnout, explosive bolts fired and springs separated the instrument section from the first-stage tankage. The instrument section and the spinning tub were slowly tipped to a horizontal position by means of four air jets located at

280-797: A weather study rocket, the Viking . Since the Juno I was the same height as the Jupiter-C (21.2 meters), with the added fourth stage being hidden inside the shell, this vehicle which successfully launched the first orbital satellite of the United States is often incorrectly referred to as a Jupiter-C. The Jupiter-C was part of the IRBM project, and the sequence of manufacture of the rockets (which are not necessarily launched in order, and may be uprated as solutions to technical problems are worked out in tests)

315-442: Is believed that Iran's Fattah-1 and Kheybar Shekan missiles were used, which both have a range of about 1,400 km. In order to cover large distances, ballistic missiles are usually launched into a high sub-orbital spaceflight ; for intercontinental missiles, the highest altitude ( apogee ) reached during free-flight is about 4,500 kilometers (2,800 mi). A ballistic missile's trajectory consists of three parts or phases :

350-532: The PGM-19 Jupiter medium-range ballistic missile. Jupiter-C was a sounding rocket used for three sub-orbital spaceflights in 1956 and 1957. It was used as a testbed for re-entry vehicles later deployed on the PGM-19 Jupiter. Juno I was a derivative of the Jupiter-C, used to launch the first American satellite, Explorer 1 , on January 31, 1958. Although the U.S. possibly could have put

385-549: The Saturn family of rockets, the Saturn I and IB , were partially derived from the Redstone. They used eight tanks built on Redstone tooling clustered around one propellant tank built on Jupiter missile tooling, and used eight Rocketdyne H-1 (Jupiter) engines to form the first stage of the rockets. First developed by the ABMA, the Saturn rocket was adopted by NASA for its Apollo program . America's first heavy-lift launch vehicles,

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420-600: The U.S. Army from June 1958 to June 1964; and was used for the first U.S. live nuclear missile tests. It was built by Chrysler for the United States Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) and was deployed in West Germany . George Huebner was the executive engineer in charge of Chrysler's missile program for its first two years of operation. Jupiter-A was the first variant of Redstone, used to test components later used in

455-552: The V-2 developed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s under the direction of Wernher von Braun . The first successful launch of a V-2 was on October 3, 1942, and it began operation on September 6, 1944, against Paris , followed by an attack on London two days later. By the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, more than 3,000 V-2s had been launched. In addition to its use as a weapon,

490-678: The Vanguard satellite in December 1957, crashing back to the pad and exploding. Following this setback and in the wake of the Sputnik crisis , the administration changed course and turned to the Army, asking ABMA and von Braun to launch the JPL -built satellite as soon as possible. The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle (MRLV), also known as Mercury-Redstone, used the stretched Redstone configuration from

525-521: The Jupiter-C / Juno I modified to launch Explorer 1 had "UE" painted on the side, indicating it was S/N 29 (U→2, E→9). Redstone (rocket family) The Redstone family of rockets consisted of a number of American ballistic missiles , sounding rockets and expendable launch vehicles operational during the 1950s and 1960s. The first member of the Redstone family was the PGM-11 Redstone missile, from which all subsequent variations of

560-405: The Jupiter-C for six suborbital launches for Project Mercury in 1960 and 1961, including United States' first two human spaceflights : Sparta was the name given to a series of surplus Redstone missiles with two solid-fuel upper stages launched as part of a joint US-UK research project with Australia from 1966 to 1967. Sparta launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT . Two members of

595-417: The Jupiter-C obviated the need for a guidance system in the upper stages. The Juno I was a satellite launch vehicle based on the Jupiter-C, but with the addition of a fourth stage, atop the "tub" of the third stage and the use of Hydyne as fuel. The Juno name derived from Von Braun wishing to make the satellite launch appear as peaceable as the Vanguard rocket , which was not a weapon, but was developed from

630-635: The Redstone were derived. The Juno 1 version of the Redstone launched Explorer 1 , the first U.S. orbital satellite in 1958 and the Mercury-Redstone variation carried the first two U.S. astronauts into space in 1961. The rocket was named for the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama where it was developed. First launched in 1953, the PGM-11 Redstone was a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile in active service with

665-589: The Soviets to maintain higher throw-weight than an American force with a roughly comparable number of lower-payload missiles. The missiles with the world's heaviest payloads are the Russian SS-18 and Chinese CSS-4 and as of 2017 , Russia was developing a new heavy-lift, liquid-propellant ICBM called the Sarmat . Throw-weight is normally calculated using an optimal ballistic trajectory from one point on

700-610: The USSR taking the first move to reach orbit because they would set the precedent that territorial overflight in space was fair game, necessary for the United States' space-based photoreconaissance ambitions in the wake of diplomatic protests against U-2 incursions of Soviet airspace. The Vanguard launch vehicle was the civilian rocket program in development for this purpose, so the administration ordered ABMA's research director, Wernher von Braun , not to attempt any satellite launches. The Vanguard rocket failed on its first attempt to launch

735-411: The atmosphere from space. However, in common military terminology, the term "hypersonic ballistic missile" is generally only given to those that can be maneuvered before hitting their target and don't follow a simple ballistic trajectory . Throw-weight is a measure of the effective weight of ballistic missile payloads . It is measured in kilograms or tonnes . Throw-weight equals the total weight of

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770-456: The atmosphere. The type of ballistic missile with the greatest range is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The largest ICBMs are capable of full orbital flight . These missiles are in a distinct category from cruise missiles , which are aerodynamically guided in powered flight and thus restricted to the atmosphere. One modern pioneer ballistic missile was the A-4, commonly known as

805-408: The base of the instrument section. When the apex of the vertical flight occurred after a coasting flight of about 247 seconds, a radio signal from the ground ignited the eleven-rocket cluster of the second stage, separating the tub from the instrument section. The third stage then fired to raise the apogee . Through this system, designed by Wernher von Braun in 1956 for his proposed Project Orbiter ,

840-583: The beginning of this phase, the missile's trajectory is still relatively well defined, though as the missile reaches the heavier layers of atmosphere it is increasingly influenced by gravity and aerodynamic drag, which can affect its landing. Ballistic missiles can be launched from fixed sites or mobile launchers, including vehicles (e.g., transporter erector launchers ), aircraft , ships , and submarines . Ballistic missiles vary widely in range and use, and are often divided into categories based on range. Various schemes are used by different countries to categorize

875-470: The boost phase, the mid-course phase and the terminal phase. Special systems and capabilities are required to facilitate the successful passage from one phase to the other. The boost phase is the powered flight portion, beginning with the ignition of the engines and concluding with the end of powered flight. The powered flight portion can last from a few tenths of seconds to several minutes and can consist of multiple rocket stages. Internal computers keep

910-420: The clustered motors fired. The rate of spin was varied by a programmer so that it did not couple with the changing resonance frequency of the first stage during flight. The upper-stage tub was visibly spun-up before launch. During first-stage flight, the vehicle was guided by a gyro-controlled autopilot controlling both air-vanes and jet vanes on the first stage by means of servos. Following a vertical launch from

945-496: The first of these was launched in 1961. Notes Bibliography Ballistic missile A ballistic missile (BM) is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typically stay within the Earth's atmosphere , while most larger missiles travel outside

980-416: The missile aligned on a preprogrammed trajectory. On multi-stage missiles , stage separation (excluding any post-boost vehicles or MIRV bus) occurs primarily during the boost phase. The mid-course phase is the longest in the missile's trajectory, beginning with the conclusion of powered flight. When the fuel is exhausted, no more thrust is provided and the missile enters free flight. During this phase

1015-507: The missile's trajectory is the terminal or re-entry phase, beginning with the re-entry of the missile into the Earth's atmosphere (if exoatmospheric ) where atmospheric drag plays a significant part in missile trajectory, and lasts until missile impact . Re-entry vehicles re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at very high velocities, on the order of 6–8 kilometers per second (22,000–29,000 km/h; 13,000–18,000 mph) at ICBM ranges. During

1050-445: The missile, now largely consisting of a warhead or payload and possibly defensive countermeasures and small propulsion systems for further alignment toward its target, will reach its highest altitude and may travel in space for thousands of kilometres (or even indefinitely, in the case of some fractional-orbital capable systems) at speeds of up to 7.5 to 10 kilometres per second (4 to 5 nautical miles per second). The last phase in

1085-644: The ranges of ballistic missiles: Long- and medium-range ballistic missiles are generally designed to deliver nuclear weapons because their payload is too limited for conventional explosives to be cost-effective in comparison to conventional bomber aircraft . A quasi-ballistic missile is a category of SRBM that is largely ballistic but can perform maneuvers in flight or make unexpected changes in direction and range. Large guided MLRS rockets with range comparable to an SRBM are sometimes categorized as quasi-ballistic missiles. Many ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. Mach 5 and above) when they re-enter

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1120-435: The surface of the Earth to another. A "minimum-energy trajectory" maximizes the total payload (throw-weight) using the available impulse of the missile. By reducing the payload weight, different trajectories can be selected, which can either increase the nominal range or decrease the total time in flight. A depressed trajectory is non-optimal, as a lower and flatter trajectory takes less time between launch and impact but has

1155-408: The third stage was a cluster of three scaled-down Sergeant rockets grouped within. These were held in position by bulkheads and rings and surrounded by a cylindrical outer shell. The webbed base plate of the shell rested on a ball bearing shaft mounted on the first-stage instrument section. Two electric motors spun in the tub at a rate varying from 450 to 750 rpm to compensate for thrust imbalance when

1190-417: Was considered a military secret. So the designation painted on the sides of the rocket was not a serial number in clear text , but employed a simple transformation cypher that the staff would be sure not to forget. The key was taken from the name of the design and test base: Huntsville, Alabama , giving HUNTSVILE, with duplicated letters dropped: H was used for 1, U for 2, ..., E for 9 and X for 0. For example,

1225-526: Was once also a consideration in the design of naval ships and the number and size of their guns. Throw-weight was used as a criterion in classifying different types of missiles during Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the Soviet Union and the United States . The term became politically controversial during debates over the arms control accord, as critics of the treaty alleged that Soviet missiles were able to carry larger payloads and so enabled

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