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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | 1 | 0 |
| 1999 | 3 | 0 |
| 2001 | 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. | |||||
Latest launched missions using variants in this family.
| Mission | Variant | Launch |
|---|---|---|
| Kodiak Star | Athena-1 | Sep 30, 2001 |
| Ikonos-2 | Athena-2 | Sep 24, 1999 |
| Launch 1999-F01 | Athena-2 | Apr 27, 1999 |
| ROCSAT |
Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.
| Variant | Stages | Missions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Athena-1 | Not stated | 2 | Retired |
Athena-2 | Not stated | 3 | Retired |
LMLV-1 | Not stated | 1 | Retired |
Athena-1 |
| Jan 27, 1999 |
| Lunar Prospector Mission | Athena-2 | Jan 7, 1998 |
| Lewis Mission | LMLV-1 | Aug 23, 1997 |
Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.
| Mission | Variant | Announced |
|---|---|---|
No forecasted missionsNo upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family. | ||
The Teal 2 airframe has been designed as an open platform that supports software features such as Athena AI.
Athena’s solution can identify weapons, humans, and other targets at night, as well as Identification Friend or Foe markers such as Cyalume HALOs and IR beacons.
The Athena 1920 delivers high-definition infrared imagery with exceptional clarity, minimal motion blur, and sharp detail in dark conditions.
The Athena 1920 offers two frame rate options, 30 Hz and 60 Hz, and provides frame synchronization for increased image depth.
BAE Systems has a new version of the Athena™ 1920 high-definition thermal camera core that supports missions requiring 360-degree situational awareness, vehicle protection, and space-based surveillance at night and in challenging weather.
The Athena 1920 includes redundant software-based single event upset mitigation for operation in space and high-altitude environments to help reduce the impacts of harmful radiation.
Multiple Athena 1920 units can be chained together to provide broader situational awareness, including real-time 360-degree sensing capabilities for a ground vehicle.
SLC-6 was reactivated in the 1990s for a handful of Lockheed Martin Athena launches and was turned over to United Launch Alliance in 2006 for the Delta 4 program.
Sener Aerospace’s work has supported missions and programs including HRE, SEOSAT/Ingenio, CHIME, LSTM, Hubble, Rosetta, SMOS, Pléiades, Herschel & Planck, JUICE, Athena, Solar Orbiter, Proba-3, Gaia, BepiColombo, ExoMars, Curiosity, Euclid, LISA Pathfinder, MTG, FLEX, LOP Gateway, Mars2020, Earth Explorers, COPERNICUS, and Galileo.
Team Athena has partnered with the National Space Academy to deliver the Space Camp program.
Teal's framework includes AI-enabled capabilities such as Reveal Technology’s Farsight 3D Mapping software and Athena AI’s Object Detection Classifiers.
ESA is preparing to adopt either Athena or LISA into the next phase of development in November 2023, with the other mission scheduled for adoption in 2024 or 2025.
The revised Athena concept goal is a minimum disrupted mission that costs ESA no more than 1,300,000,000 EUR while still performing science expected of a flagship-class mission.
By 2019 the combined price of Athena and LISA had grown to 2,500,000,000 EUR.
The European Space Agency selected the Athena mission in 2014 as one of two flagship astrophysics missions alongside the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).
Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was previously used for Athena launches and was idle in recent years except for an Orion launch abort test in 2019.
Space Launch Complex 46 has been used for launches of Athena rockets and for a 2019 test of the launch abort system for NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
HeloSat will enable through-the-rotor connectivity on helicopters such as the Leonardo SW-4 Solo optionally piloted rotorcraft using Athena-Fidus Ka-band satellite capacity via the Telespazio ground station in Fucino, Italy.
ATHENA will use High-performance Silicon pore optics developed in Europe.
ATHENA is planned to be launched in 2031.