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X-17
 X-17 Credit: via Andreas Parsch |
Status: Retired 1958. First Launch: 1955-08-26. Last Launch: 1958-09-06. Number: 39 . Thrust: 220.00 kN (49,450 lbf). Gross mass: 3,400 kg (7,400 lb). Height: 12.30 m (40.30 ft). Diameter: 0.79 m (2.59 ft). Apogee: 500 km (310 mi).
3 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x Sergeant + 3 x Recruit + 1 x Recruit.
More at: X-17.
| RAM A American test vehicle. Employed by NACA-Langley for accelerating aerodynamic models. Could lift 34 kg to 1271 km. 5 stage vehicle. |
| RAM B American test vehicle. Three stage vehicle consisting of 1 x Castor + 1 x Antares + 1 x Alcor |
| X-17 HTV American test vehicle. Three stage vehicle consisting of 1 x 3-DS-47000 + 3 x NOTS 124-C + 1 x NOTS 124-C |
| X-17 HTV 1 American test vehicle. Three stage vehicle consisting of 1 x 3-DS-47000 + 1 x Dummy stage + 1 x Dummy stage |
| X-17 HTV 1-2 Rocket stage used on X-17 test vehicle. |
| X-17 QTV American test vehicle. Three stage vehicle consisting of 1 x T-40 + 1 x Dummy stage + 1 x Dummy stage |
Family: test vehicle. Country: USA. Launch Sites: Cape Canaveral, Cape Canaveral LC3, San Clemente, Cape Canaveral LC25A. Stages: 1.5KS35000, Castor engine. Agency: Lockheed. Bibliography: 17, 2, 48, 483, 8768.
1952 - 1956 - . Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- NACA research on reentry configurations. - .
Nation: USA.
Personnel of NACA Langley and Ames Aeronautical Laboratories were engaged in research on aerodynamic characteristics of reentry configurations. Knowledge acquired from these efforts along with those of industry and the military services was used in Project Mercury, proved the ablation theory for the Army's Jupiter missile development program, and was used in the Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile nose cone reentry program.
1955 January 24 - . LV Family: X-17.
- Contract for the X-17. - .
WDD and SAPO selected the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to be awarded a contract to design, construct, and flight test a reentry test vehicle (RTV), the X-17. As a result of this contract, the three-stage, solid-propellant X-17 was built to test experimental nose cones and to gather data on reentry phenomena. The RTV was primarily intended to facilitate the investigation of heat transfer at high mach and Reynolds numbers.
1955 May 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17 QTV.
1955 May 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17 QTV.
1955 June 13 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17 HTV. FAILURE: Failure.
1955 June 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17 HTV.
1955 June 30 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17 HTV.
1955 July 14 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17 HTV.
1955 Aug - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- First attempt to launch X-17 reentry test vehicle - . Lockheed's first attempt to launch its X-17 reentry test vehicle (RTV) at Cape Canaveral, Florida, was unsuccessful..
1955 August 26 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1955 September 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1955 December 1 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 January 20 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 March 5 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 April 17 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 June 26 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- Test mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 140 km (80 mi). USAF X-17 flight test program started at Cape Canaveral to study reentry problems by simulating reentry velocities and conditions with three-stage solid-fuel Lockheed X-17. A total of 26 X-17 flights were conducted until March 1957..
1956 July 17 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- Re-entry vehicle test - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 142 km (88 mi). The first Lockheed X-17 reentry test vehicle (R-2) to complete a successful flight was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. .
1956 July 27 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1956 August 18 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1956 August 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- 4203-5 re-entry vehicle test flight - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 142 km (88 mi). A five-stage, solid-fuel rocket test vehicle, the world's first, was launched to a speed of mach 15 from Wallops Island, Va. by the NACA Langley Aeronautical Laboratory's Pilotless Aircraft Research Division..
1956 August 28 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 September 8 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1956 October 1 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 October 5 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 October 13 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 October 18 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 October 25 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 November 5 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 November 16 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 November 23 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 December 3 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1956 December 11 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 January 8 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 January 15 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1957 January 29 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1957 February 7 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 February 14 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 March 1 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 March 11 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 March 21 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1957 April 24 - . Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- X-17 reaches 9,000 mph. - . Nation: USA. Lockheed X-17 research rocket reached 9,000 mph at Patrick AFB, Fla..
1957 July 22 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC3. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1958 July 1 - . Launch Site: San Clemente. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1958 July 1 - . Launch Site: San Clemente. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17. FAILURE: Failure.
1958 July 2 - . Launch Site: San Clemente. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1958 July 24 - . Launch Site: San Clemente. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
1958 August 27 - . 02:20 GMT - . Launch Pad: Atlantic Ocean, 38.5 S x 11.5 W. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- Argus I Nuclear test - .
Nation: USA.
Agency: USN.
Apogee: 160 km (90 mi).
The Argus series were the only clandestine nuclear tests ever conducted by the United States. The rocket-launched nuclear warheads were set off at very high altitudes over the South Atlantic, 1800 km south-west of Capetown, South Africa. The purpose was to determine the effects of nuclear explosions on the Earth's magnetic field and the impact to military radar, communications, satellites and ballistic missiles electronics. The earth's magnetic field is not only off-axis from the earth, but also off centre from the earth's core. This means the Van Allen Radiation belts are closest to the earth in the region known as the 'South Atlantic Anomaly'. This made the selected launch point the ideal place for launching a rocket into the lower belt where the particles and radiation from the explosion would be trapped.
The 1.7 kiloton W-25 warhead used had been developed and previously tested for the Genie air-to-air missile. The first test was launched from vessel AVM1 at 38.5 deg S, 11.5 deg. W, and exploded at an altitude of 160 km. The initial flash was followed by an auroral luminescence extending upward and downward along the magnetic lines where the burst occurred. The experiment verified the predicitons made in the original October 1957 proposal by N. C. Christofilos of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore.
1958 August 30 - . 03:10 GMT - . Launch Pad: Atlantic Ocean, 49.5 S x 8.2 W. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- Argus II Nuclear test - . Nation: USA. Agency: USN. Apogee: 293 km (182 mi). Second covert Argus launch to study effect of nuclear explosions on the Van Allen radiation belts. The rocket was launched from vessel AVM1 at 49.5 deg South, 8.2 deg West; altitude reached 294 km; yield of the nuclear warhead, 1.7 kilotons..
1958 September 6 - . 22:05 GMT - . Launch Pad: Atlantic Ocean, 48.5 S x 9.7 W. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- Argus III Nuclear test - . Nation: USA. Agency: USN. Apogee: 750 km (460 mi). Third and final covert Argus launch to study effect of nuclear explosions on the Van Allen radiation belts. The rocket was launched from vessel AVM1 at 48.5 deg South, 9.7 deg West ; altitude reached 750 km; yield of the nuclear warhead, 1.7 kilotons..
1959 March 19 - . Launch Vehicle: X-17.
- X-17s used for rocket launch of nuclear tests. - . Nation: USA. Deputy Secretary of Defense Quarles announced that three atomic blasts were secretly fired in space (Project Argus) in 1958, using modified X-17 rockets..
1961 August 30 - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: RAM A.
1962 February 21 - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: RAM A.
1962 September 21 - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: RAM B. FAILURE: Failure.
1963 May 28 - . 18:59 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: RAM B.
1964 April 10 - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: X-17. Launch Vehicle: RAM B.
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