The Athena II is an American small
expendable launch system
An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket s ...
which was used for three launches between 1998 and 1999,
and which was scheduled to return to service in 2012 but has not been flown again . It is a member of the
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
family of rockets, along with the smaller
Athena I
The Athena I, known as the Lockheed Launch Vehicle (LLV) at the time of its first flight and Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle (LMLV) at the time of its second flight, was an American small expendable launch system which was used for four launches b ...
.
The Athena II is a four-stage rocket, consisting of solid first, second and third stages, and a
monopropellant
Monopropellants are propellants consisting of chemicals that release energy through exothermic chemical decomposition. The molecular bond energy of the monopropellant is released usually through use of a catalyst. This can be contrasted with bipro ...
liquid-fueled fourth stage. The first and second stages are
Castor 120s, which are also used on some versions of the
Taurus rocket. An
Orbus 21D
Orbus may refer to:
* ''Orbus'' (novel), 2009, by Neal Asher
*Orbus, a French radio network
*Orbus-21S, the Intelsat 603 satellite's 1990/1992 upper-stage rockets