Lockheed Atlas Ii

Atlas II was a retired Atlas launch-vehicle family covering Atlas II, Atlas IIA, and Atlas IIAS variants for government, commercial, and science payloads.^[1][2][3] Lockheed Martin was the supported manufacturer/operator attribution for the Atlas II family in the late Atlas IIAS era, including the final Atlas II family vehicle leaving production in Denver.^[2][1] Its operational period ran from 1991 through the final Atlas IIAS mission on 2004-08-31, after which the family was retired.^[2][3] The family is relevant to Earth-observation procurement history because NASA's Terra Earth-observing satellite launched from Vandenberg aboard an Atlas IIAS in December 1999.^[1][4] Atlas II-Centaur geostationary-transfer capability was around 6,100 lb / 2,767 kg.^[5]