Jupiter-C Composite Reentry Test Vehicle
Jupiter-C was a three-stage U.S. Army research rocket built from an elongated Redstone first stage and clustered scaled-down Sergeant solid motors. Three flights from 1956 to 1957 tested high-speed trajectories and Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic-missile nose-cone reentry; the final round successfully recovered its test nose cone. Adding a live fourth stage transformed the design into the distinct Juno I satellite launcher.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Jupiter CComposite Reentry Test VehicleJupiter-C RTV
- Family Name
- Jupiter-C
- Full Name
- Jupiter-C Composite Reentry Test Vehicle
- Status
- retired
- Type
- rocket
Details
- Description
- Jupiter-C was a three-stage U.S. Army research rocket built from an elongated Redstone first stage and clustered scaled-down Sergeant solid motors. Three flights from 1956 to 1957 tested high-speed trajectories and Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic-missile nose-cone reentry; the final round successfully recovered its test nose cone. Adding a live fourth stage transformed the design into the distinct Juno I satellite launcher.
- Dimensions
- Diameter M
- 1.8
- Height M
- 21.2
- First Flight Year
- 1,956
- Last Flight Year
- 1,957
- Operator
- Parent Vehicle Family
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Nested value
- Nested value
- Nested value
- Rocket Specs
- Liftoff Mass Kg
- 28,828
- Reusability
- expendable
- Stages Count
- 3
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 13, 2026 at 12:43:55 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 29, 2026 at 15:38:45 UTC
- Image
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Other
- Search Name
- Jupiter-C Composite Reentry Test Vehicle Jupiter C Composite Reentry Test Vehicle Jupiter-C RTV