Atlas V

United Launch Alliance's workhorse, a first stage powered by a Russian RD-180 engine and a Centaur upper stage burning liquid hydrogen. Its three-digit name gives the fairing width, the number of solid boosters and the number of Centaur engines: a 541 has a 5-metre fairing, four boosters and one engine. In that configuration it sent Curiosity to Mars in 2011 and Perseverance in 2020.

Key figures

Builder

United Launch Alliance

Status

In service

First flight

2002

Height

60 m

Diameter

3.81 m

Payload to low Earth orbit

17.4 t

Payload to geostationary transfer orbit

8.29 t

Missions

• Curiosity: The Complete Mission in Real-Time 3D
• Perseverance: The Complete Mission in Real-Time 3D

Destinations

• Mars
• Curiosity

Launch pads

• SLC-41 (2011, Modelled for Curiosity)
• SLC-41 (2020, Modelled for Perseverance)

All spacecraft