The inner engine, sometimes referred to as the sustainer engine, remained permanently attached to the rocket, while the two outer engines, known as booster engines, were used only during the first few minutes of flight.Īs the rocket rose into the air, fuel was consumed at a fast rate. First of all, of the three main rocket engines on the Atlas, only one remained with the Atlas all the way to orbit. The radical solution developed was two fold. Using conventional staging, with second stage engines starting in flight, would simply be too unreliable given 1950's technology.
The only way to ensure that a rocket started correctly was to start the engines while the rocket was still on the ground. However, chemical rockets of this era could not be reliably started. Clearly, there were significant benefits to the concept of 'staging', or the dropping of used engines and fuel tanks to lighten a rocket as it heads toward orbit. In the 1950's, rocket designers faced a number of serious challenges. One unusual feature of the Atlas rocket is its unique staging system.
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