Conestoga 1

Conestoga I

Mission Profile

The Conestoga 1 (Conestoga I) was a single-stage American suborbital test rocket built by Space Services Inc., one of the first privately funded launch vehicles to achieve a successful flight. Standing 10 m tall with a 1.3 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 10.2 tonnes, it generated 267 kN of thrust. First flying in September 1982, the Conestoga 1 successfully completed a suborbital flight from Matagorda Island, Texas, becoming a milestone in the early history of commercial spaceflight and helping pave the way for the private launch industry that followed.