Editing Atlas-Centaur (section)

{{Short description|Family of space launch vehicles}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox rocket
| name           = Atlas-Centaur
| image          = Surveyor 1 launch.jpg
| caption        = An Atlas-Centaur launching [[Surveyor 1]] (1966)

| manufacturer   = [[Convair|Convair Division of]]<br />[[General Dynamics]]
| function       = [[Expendable launch system]]
| country-origin = United States
| status         = Retired
| sites          = [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Canaveral]], [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36|LC-36]]
| fail           = 13
| success        = 181
| partial        = 3
| launches       = 197
| first          = 8 May 1962
| last           = 31 August 2004
}}

The '''Atlas-Centaur''' was a United States [[expendable launch vehicle]] derived from the [[SM-65 Atlas]] D missile. The vehicle featured a [[Centaur (rocket stage)|Centaur]] upper stage, the first such stage to use high-performance liquid hydrogen as fuel. Launches were conducted from [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36|Launch Complex 36]] at the [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]] (CCAFS) in [[Florida]]. After a strenuous flight test program, Atlas-Centaur went on to launch several crucial spaceflight missions for the United States, including [[Surveyor 1]], and Pioneer [[Pioneer 10|10]]/[[Pioneer 11|11]]. The vehicle would be continuously developed and improved into the 1990s, with the last direct descendant being the highly successful [[Atlas II]].