Thor-Agena B Launch Vehicle
Thor-Agena B paired a standard short-tank Thor with the larger restartable Agena B. NASA used this configuration for Alouette 1, Echo 2, Nimbus 1, and the Alouette 2/Explorer 31 dual launch, while the Air Force used it extensively for Discoverer and related missions. Agena B's enlarged tanks and restart capability increased payload and orbital-insertion flexibility over Agena A.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Thor Agena BThor/Agena B
- Family Name
- Thor-Agena B
- Full Name
- Thor-Agena B Launch Vehicle
- Status
- retired
- Type
- rocket
Details
- Description
- Thor-Agena B paired a standard short-tank Thor with the larger restartable Agena B. NASA used this configuration for Alouette 1, Echo 2, Nimbus 1, and the Alouette 2/Explorer 31 dual launch, while the Air Force used it extensively for Discoverer and related missions. Agena B's enlarged tanks and restart capability increased payload and orbital-insertion flexibility over Agena A.
- Dimensions
- Diameter M
- 2.4
- Height M
- 23
- First Flight Year
- 1,960
- Last Flight Year
- 1,966
- Operator
- Parent Vehicle Family
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Nested value
- Nested value
- Rocket Specs
- Liftoff Mass Kg
- 55,978
- Payload Capacity Kg
- Leo
- 1,380
- Reusability
- expendable
- Stages Count
- 2
Links
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- Creation Time
- July 13, 2026 at 13:21:18 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 29, 2026 at 15:42:28 UTC
- Image
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Other
- Search Name
- Thor-Agena B Launch Vehicle Thor Agena B Thor/Agena B