As Centaur turns 60 years old, ULA prepares to evolve Centaur V

Published by NASA Spaceflight on 05/09/2022

60 years ago, on May 8, 1962, Atlas-LV3C Centaur-A – designated Atlas Centaur-1 (AC-1) – lifted off from the newly-constructed Launch Complex-36A (LC-36A). AC-1 was the first flight test of the hydrogen-powered Centaur upper stage. Since the maiden flight of Centaur, the stage has flown on several different rocket families across six decades. Centaur has launched military, commercial, and science missions allowing access to every planetary body in the solar system and even beyond.