Launch vehicle
Saturn V
The Saturn V remains the tallest, heaviest and most powerful rocket ever flown to operational service. Three stages — kerosene-fueled S-IC, hydrogen-fueled S-II and the restartable S-IVB — carried every Apollo crew to the Moon and lifted Skylab in a single launch. Thirteen flights, thirteen successes.
- Height
- 110.6 m / 363 ft
- Diameter
- 10.1 m / 33.1 ft
- Liftoff mass
- 2,889 t
- Liftoff thrust
- 33,400 kN
- Stages
- 3
- Payload to LEO · rated
- 140 t
- Operator
- NASA · Boeing / North American / Douglas
- First flight
- 1967
- Status
- retired
drag to inspect · scroll to zoom
Performance
Payload capacity, solved by the engine
Ideal staged-Δv model (rocket equation, Rust) against standard surface-to-destination budgets that include typical gravity/drag/steering losses. First-order — not a flight manifest.
LEO
…
Low Earth orbit (~9.4 km/s incl. losses)
GTO
…
Geostationary transfer (LEO + 2.44)
GEO
…
Direct to geostationary (LEO + 3.9)
Moon
…
Trans-lunar injection (LEO + 3.12)
Mars
…
Trans-Mars injection (LEO + 3.6)
Stage 1
S-IC
- Length
- 42.1 m
- Diameter
- 10.1 m
- Dry mass
- 131 t
- Propellant
- 2,149.5 t
- Engines
- 5× F-1
- Thrust
- 33,400 kN
- Isp (vacuum)
- 304 s
Stage 2
S-II
- Length
- 24.9 m
- Diameter
- 10.1 m
- Dry mass
- 36 t
- Propellant
- 451 t
- Engines
- 5× J-2
- Thrust
- 4,400 kN
- Isp (vacuum)
- 421 s
Stage 3
S-IVB
- Length
- 17.8 m
- Diameter
- 6.6 m
- Dry mass
- 13.3 t
- Propellant
- 108 t
- Engines
- 1× J-2
- Thrust
- 1,000 kN
- Isp (vacuum)
- 421 s
Now put it on a trajectory
Every number on this page came out of the same Rust engine that propagates your orbits. Load this vehicle on the Flight Deck, plan a transfer, and see if your mission closes.