The common Centaur upper stage uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants and has the performance option of one or two RL10 engines. The Common Core Booster will be powered by the new RD-180 engine using liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants. The RD-180 and booster propulsion systems will undergo additional validations for other specific Atlas V applications. The common Centaur upper stage uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants and has the performance option of using one or two RL10 engines. The new Centaur will be flight-proven on the Atlas III configuration more than a year before first use on Atlas V. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, in Denver, Colo., has overall responsibility for the Atlas V launch vehicle.
Operations builds metallic payload fairings, interstage adapters and aft thrust structures.
The company's San Diego, Calif., Operations welds Centaur structures. Astronautics' Launch Operations organization at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base oversees launch site activation and provides launch operations for all Lockheed Martin configurations. Md. Astronautics designs, develops, tests and manufactures a variety of advanced technology systems for space and defense. Chief products include planetary spacecraft and other space systems, space launch systems and ground systems. Calif. ILS was formed in 1995 to jointly market commercial launch services on Atlas and the Russian-built Proton launch vehicles.