Pioneer 10 (Pioneer F), NASA’s first probe aimed through the asteroid belt to Jupiter and on a solar-system escape trajectory. Atlas SLV-3C Centaur (AC-27) with Star 37E from Cape Canaveral LC-36A lofted the RTG-powered craft on 3 March 1972; it became the first spacecraft to leave the Solar System.
- Outcome
- Success
- Orbit
- Solar Esc.
- Solar escape
- Payload to orbit
- 340 kg
- Flight
- 15th
- of 17 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur flights
- Date and time
- 3 March 1972, 01:49 UTC
- Rocket
- Atlas SLV-3C Centaur
- Builder
- Convair
- Launch site
- Launch Complex 36A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
- Payload
- Robotic Exploration
- International designator
- 1972-012
- Launches in 1972
- 13th of 113
See it in orbit
Space Atlas shows the satellites and rocket stages from this launch in 3D.
View satellites in Space Atlas