Vanguard-TV0

Vanguard TV-0 Test Vehicle 0

Mission Profile

The Vanguard-TV0 (Test Vehicle 0) was a single-stage American test rocket in the Viking family, the first test vehicle in the Project Vanguard programme used to validate the vehicle's first-stage propulsion system. Standing 21.9 m tall with a 1.1 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 10 tonnes, it generated 132 kN of first-stage thrust. First flying in December 1956, the Vanguard-TV0 was an early suborbital test flight that helped validate the rocket design before the programme attempted orbital missions.