Aerobee RTV-A-1

Mission Profile

The Aerobee RTV-A-1 was a two-stage American sounding rocket in the Aerobee family, a standardised production variant of the original Aerobee used for routine high-altitude scientific research. Standing 5.8 m tall with a 0.4 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 728 kg, it generated 12 kN of sustainer thrust. First flying in December 1949, the Aerobee RTV-A-1 was widely used by the US Army, Navy, and Air Force for solar physics, cosmic ray, and upper atmosphere research throughout the 1950s.