Atlas IIIB DEC

Atlas IIIB Dual-Engine Centaur

Mission Profile

The Atlas IIIB DEC (Atlas IIIB Dual-Engine Centaur) was a two-stage American medium-heavy lift launch vehicle combining the RD-180-powered Atlas IIIB booster with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage, providing higher upper-stage performance than the single-engine Centaur variant. Standing 52.8 m tall with a 3.1 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 225 tonnes, it generated 3,827 kN of first-stage thrust and could deliver 10,218 kg to geostationary transfer orbit. First flying in February 2002, the Atlas IIIB DEC validated the dual-engine Centaur configuration that would be carried forward into the highest-performance Atlas V variants, bridging the Atlas III and Atlas V eras.