Saturn IB – nine launches; a refined version of the Saturn I with a more powerful first stage (designated the S-IB) and using the Saturn V's S-IVB as a second stage. These carried the first Apollo flight crew, plus three Skylab and one Apollo-Soyuz crews, into Earth orbit.

As of 2024, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 311,152 lb (141,136 kg), which included unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to the Moon.

The S-IVB (pronounced "S-four-B") was the third stage on the Saturn V and second stage on the Saturn IB launch vehicles. Built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, it had one J-2 rocket engine. For lunar missions it was fired twice: first for Earth orbit insertion after second stage cutoff, and then for translunar injection (TLI).

Final common third stage design for Saturn C-4 and C-5 (November 1961). Developed into Saturn V second stage. After development started, decision taken to boost performance by increasing diameter to 6.61 m and increasing propellant load.

In April of 1960 the Douglas Aircraft Company was awarded a contract to develop the second and uppermost stage for the Saturn I space booster. In order to realize the high specific impulse available, this stage, called the S-IV, was to utilize liquid hydrogen and …

Aug 1, 2021 · The Saturn S-IVB was the second Saturn IB booster stage and third Saturn V booster stage. While the two versions had much in common, they differed in aft interstage, ullage motor count, and auxiliary propulsion system (APS) …

Feb 19, 2017 · Stages of the Apollo stack (at least the configuration that landed humans on the Moon) are identified as S-IC, S-II, and S-IVB for the first, second, and third stages. There's no S-III. Why the gap in numbering? Was Saturn going to be a …

Feb 16, 2025 · The Saturn S-IV-9 second stage was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company’s Missile & Space Division, Huntington, Beach, California. It was 41.5 feet (12.65 meters) long and 18.5 feet (5.64 meters) in diameter and had an empty weight of …

The Saturn I upper stage (the S-IV) used a cluster of six engines, but the Saturn IB and Saturn V upper stages (designated the S-IVB for both versions) possessed a larger diameter and mounted a single engine of different design.

The S-IV stage was a large LOX/LH 2-fueled rocket stage used for the early test flights of the Saturn I rocket. It formed the second stage of the Saturn I and was powered by a cluster of six RL-10A-3 engines.