Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.
Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.
| Year | Historical missions | Forecast launches |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 3 | 0 |
| 1965 | 3 | 0 |
| 1966 | 3 | 0 |
| 1968 | 2 | 0 |
| 1973 | 3 | 0 |
| 1975 | 1 | 0 |
Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.
| Variant | Orbit | Capacity | Altitude | Inclination | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No performance specsNo structured payload capacity rows are linked to this vehicle family. | |||||
Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.
| Variant | Stages | Missions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Saturn IB | Not stated | 8 | Retired |
Saturn I Blk2 | Not stated | 6 | Retired |
Uprated Saturn I | Not stated | 1 | Retired |
Saturn IB |
| May 25, 1973 |
| Apollo 7 Mission | Saturn IB | Oct 11, 1968 |
| Apollo 5 | Saturn IB | Jan 22, 1968 |
| Launch 1966-U06 | Saturn IB | Aug 25, 1966 |
| AS-203 | Uprated Saturn I | Jul 5, 1966 |
Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.
| Mission | Variant | Announced |
|---|---|---|
No forecasted missionsNo upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family. | ||
This MethaneSAT spacecraft is the fifth Blue Canyon Saturn-class platform to launch and operate on-orbit successfully.
Blue Canyon Technologies’ Saturn-class platform offers power systems, secure data handling, and guidance and navigation capabilities with a 200-kg payload capacity.
Blue Canyon Technologies provided its largest small satellite platform, the Saturn-class bus, for MethaneSAT.
Complex 37 supported a total of eight unmanned Saturn launches between 1964 and 1968.
Space Launch Complex-37 (originally Complex 37) was built in 1962 to support the Saturn I and Saturn IB programs.
Rocket Ridge at Edwards AFB has hosted development and testing of engines for various high-profile launch vehicles, including the Space Shuttle and Saturn families.
The Saturn I and Centaur were developed concurrently by different groups but interacted significantly during their development.
NASA Headquarters vetoed a proposal to use a Saturn I with an Agena third stage in place of the Atlas-Centaur due to bureaucratic resistance.
The Saturn I was the first step in developing the Saturn rocket family that culminated in the Saturn V lunar launcher.
The Saturn I's first stage was powered by kerosene and liquid oxygen, while its second stage burned high-energy propellant powered by six RL10 engines.
The Atlas-Centaur exceeded the Saturn I to orbit on January 29, 1964.
SLC-37 was built in the 1960s for the Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets and was later converted by Boeing to host Delta IV launches.
The Blackjack program provided on-orbit flight heritage for Blue Canyon’s Saturn buses.
Luch has a design lifetime of 15 years and uses lithium-ion batteries developed by PAO Saturn.
MethaneSAT, projected to launch in 2024, was built on a Saturn-class microsat by Blue Canyon Technologies for the Environmental Defense Fund to measure methane emissions.
Raytheon is using Blue Canyon Technologies’ Saturn buses to build seven satellites for the Space Development Agency.
NASA’s Pandora mission, projected to launch in 2024 or 2025, uses a Saturn-class microsat and was designed by NASA and the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to study the atmospheres of exoplanets.
The Blackjack satellites were built with Blue Canyon Technologies’ largest satellite bus, the Saturn-class ESPA-Grande.
The LIFE subscale burst test took place in the flame trench at the test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center that was previously used for the Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets.
If Pulsar Fusion's rocket demonstration achieves fusion temperatures in 2027, the technology could halve mission times to Mars and reduce flight time to Saturn to about two years.