Saturn IB Vehicles and Launches
The original Saturn IBs for Apollo were launched from LC-34 and LC-37, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The Saturn IB was used between 1973 and 1975 for three manned Skylab flights, and one Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight. This final production run did not have alternating black and white S-IB stage tanks, or vertical stripes on the S-IVB aft tank skirt, which were present on the earlier vehicles. Since LC-34 and 37 were inactive by then, these launches utilized Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B. To accommodate the height differential between the Saturn IB and the much larger Saturn V, a "milkstool" apparatus was attached to the Mobile Launcher Platform. The "milkstool" enabled the Apollo Command Module's hatch to reach the Launch Umbillical Tower's crew access arm and accommodate all the ground support connections related to fuelling and support.
| Serial Number |
Mission | Spacecraft Mass (kg) |
Launch Date |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA-201 | AS-201 | 20,820 | February 26, 1966 | Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM (Command/Service Module) |
| SA-203 | AS-203 | None | July 5, 1966 | Unmanned test of unburned LH2 behavior in orbit to support S-IVB-500 restart design |
| SA-202 | AS-202 | 25,810 | August 25, 1966 | Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM |
| SA-204 | Apollo 1 | 20,412 | Was to be first manned orbital test of Block I CSM. Cabin fire killed astronauts and damaged CM during dress rehearsal for planned February 21, 1967 launch |
|
| Apollo 5 | 14,360 | January 22, 1968 | Unmanned orbital test of Lunar Module, used Apollo 1 launch vehicle |
|
| SA-205 | Apollo 7 | 16,520 | October 11, 1968 | Manned orbital test of Block II CSM |
| SA-206 | Skylab 2 | 19,979 | May 25, 1973 | Block II CSM ferried first crew to Skylab orbital workshop |
| SA-207 | Skylab 3 | 20,121 | July 28, 1973 | Block II CSM ferried second crew to Skylab orbital workshop |
| SA-208 | AS-208 | Standby Skylab 3 rescue CSM-119; not needed | ||
| Skylab 4 | 20,847 | November 16, 1973 | Block II CSM ferried third crew to Skylab orbital workshop | |
| SA-209 | AS-209 | Standby Skylab 4 and later Apollo-Soyuz rescue CSM-119. Not needed, currently on display in the KSC rocket garden |
||
| Skylab 5 | Planned CSM mission to lift Skylab workshop's orbit to endure until Space Shuttle ready to fly; cancelled. |
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| SA-210 | ASTP | 16,780 | July 15, 1975 | Apollo CSM with special docking adapter module, rendezvoused with Soyuz 19. Last Saturn IB flight. |
| SA-211 | Unused | |||
| SA-212 | Unused. First stage scrapped. S-IVB stage converted to Skylab space station. |
|||
| SA-213 | Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped. | |||
| SA-214 | Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped. | |||
For earlier launches of vehicles in the Saturn I series, see the list in the Saturn I article.
Read more about this topic: Saturn IB
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