Saturn C-2
| Function | Launch vehicle for Project Horizon and Apollo |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Size | |
| Height | 224.6 feet (68.5 m) (w/o payload) |
| Diameter | 21.4 feet (6.5 m) |
| Mass | 1,367,000 pounds (620,000 kg) gross (to LEO) |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 47,300 pounds (21,500 kg) |
| Payload to Moon | 14,900 pounds (6,800 kg) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Saturn |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Study, not developed |
| Launch sites | Kennedy Space Center |
| First stage – S-I | |
| Length | 80.3 feet (24.5 m) |
| Diameter | 21.4 feet (6.5 m) |
| Empty mass | 99,800 pounds (45,300 kg) |
| Gross mass | 953,900 pounds (432,700 kg) |
| Engines | 8 H-1 |
| Thrust | 1,500,000 pounds-force (6,700 kN) |
| Specific impulse | 289 secs |
| Burn time | 150 seconds |
| Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
| Second stage – S-II | |
| Length | 74.0 feet (22.6 m) |
| Diameter | 21.6 feet (6.6 m) |
| Empty mass | 30,000 pounds (14,000 kg) |
| Gross mass | 220,000 pounds (100,000 kg) |
| Engines | 4 J-2 |
| Thrust | 800,000 pounds-force (3,600 kN) |
| Specific impulse | 300 sec |
| Burn time | 100 seconds |
| Fuel | LH2/LOX |
| Third stage – S-IV | |
| Length | 40.0 feet (12.2 m) |
| Diameter | 18.0 feet (5.5 m) |
| Empty mass | 11,500 pounds (5,200 kg) |
| Gross mass | 111,500 pounds (50,600 kg) |
| Engines | 6 RL10 |
| Thrust | 90,000 pounds-force (400 kN) |
| Specific impulse | 410 secs |
| Burn time | 482 seconds |
| Fuel | LH2/LOX |
| Fourth stage – S-V (Centaur-C) | |
| Length | 30.0 feet (9.1 m) |
| Diameter | 10.0 feet (3.0 m) |
| Empty mass | 4,400 pounds (2,000 kg) |
| Gross mass | 34,300 pounds (15,600 kg) |
| Engines | 2 RL10 |
| Thrust | 30,000 pounds-force (130 kN) |
| Specific impulse | 410 secs |
| Burn time | 430 seconds |
| Fuel | LH2/LOX |
The Saturn C-2 was the second rocket in the Saturn C series studied from 1959 to 1962. The design was for a four-stage launch vehicle that could launch 21,500 kg (47,300 lb) to low Earth orbit and send 6,800 kg (14,900 lb) to the Moon via Trans-Lunar Injection.
The C-2 design concept was for a proposed manned circumlunar flight and the Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR) missions. It was initially considered for the Apollo lunar landing at the earliest possible date (1967).
On September 30, 1960 the fourth meeting of the Space Exploration Program Council was held at NASA Headquarters. The results of a study on Saturn development and utilization was presented by the Ad Hoc Saturn Study Committee.
Objectives of the study were to determine:
Since no change in the NASA FY1962 budget was contemplated., the Committee recommended that the Saturn C-2 development should proceed on schedule (S-II stage contract in FY 1962, with first flight in 1965).
The C-2 would be essential for Apollo manned circumlunar missions, lunar unmanned exploration, Mars and Venus orbiters and capsule landers, probes to other planets and out-of-ecliptic, and for orbital starting of nuclear upper stages. During a discussion on the Saturn program, several major problems were brought up:
During 1961 Saturn C-x configurations seemed to change month by month. In February 1961, the C-2 design finalized as a three-stage vehicle for Earth-escape missions, using an S-II second stage. It was calculated that 15 launches and rendezvous of the C-2 would have been required to assemble a lunar spacecraft in Low Earth orbit. By May 1961, a more powerful vehicle was desired for circumlunar missions, hence the C-2 was dropped in favor of the Saturn C-3. Further development of the C-2 vehicle was cancelled on 23 June 1961.
The original Saturn C-2 design (1959-1960) was a four-stage launch vehicle, using an S-I first stage using eight Rocketdyne H-1 engines, later flown on the Saturn I. The Army's original design used the S-III stage with two J-2 engines as the second stage; after the Saturn program was transferred to NASA, the second stage was replaced with an S-II second stage using four J-2 engines. The S-III stage would have been added atop the S-II, to convert the C-2 into the five-stage Saturn C-3. Later, a fifth J-2 engine was added to the S-II stage to be used on the Saturn C-5, which eventually was developed as the Saturn V launch vehicle.
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