The Rocketdyne S-3D (Air Force designation LR79) is an American

liquid rocket engine A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because they have reasonably high density and their combustio ...

produced by

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. Rocketdyne ...

(a division of North American Aviation) between 1956 and 1961. It was a gas generator, pump-fed engine, using a liquid oxygen (

LOX Lox is a fillet of brined salmon, which may be smoked. Lox is frequently served on a bagel with cream cheese, and often garnished with tomato, onion, cucumber, and capers. Etymology The American English word ''lox'' is a borrowing of Yiddi ...

) and

RP-1 RP-1 (Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) and similar fuels like RG-1 and T-1 are highly refined kerosene formulations used as rocket fuel. Liquid-fueled rockets that use RP-1 as fuel are known as kerolox rockets. In their engines, RP- ...

(kerosene) propellant combination, capable of producing 134,908 pounds of thrust (600.1 kN) at sea level. The S-3 was based on the Redstone engine, and is part of the LR79 family, used on the

PGM-19 Jupiter The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear weapon, nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-propellant rocket using RP-1 fuel and Liquid oxygen, LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketd ...

and

PGM-17 Thor The PGM-17A Thor was the first operative ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was named after the Thor, Norse god of thunder. It was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range b ...

missiles, and on the

Juno II Juno II was an American space launch vehicle used during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was derived from the Jupiter missile, which was used as the first stage. Development Solid-fueled rocket motors derived from the MGM-29 Sergeant we ...

rocket. A second stage with four S-3 engines was considered for the Saturn A-2 study. Comparison of Rocketdyne S-3D and H-1 engines

Its design was used later as the basis for the H-1 rocket engine of the

Saturn I The Saturn I was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to low Earth orbit Payload (air and space craft), payloads.Terminology has changed since the 1960s; back then, 20,000 pounds was considered "heavy l ...

, and the

Rolls-Royce RZ.2 The RZ.2 was a British design for a liquid oxygen (LOX) / kerosene-fuelled rocket engine to power the Blue Streak (missile). The design was a development of the Rolls-Royce RZ.1 rocket engine, which had in turn been a development by Rolls-Roy ...

of the Blue Streak.

Specifications

Rocketdyne S-3D: * First flight: 1957 * Vehicles:

* Thrust: 600.1 kN (134908 lbf). * Specific impulse: 282 s. * Burn time: 247 s. Rocketdyne S-3: * First flight: 1958 * Vehicles:

, Saturn A-2 * Thrust: 667.2 kN (149993 lbf). * Specific impulse: 282 s. * Burn time: 182 s. * Diameter: 2.67 m (8.75 ft). * Dry mass: 725 kg (1,598 lb)

References

{{Rocket engines S-3D Rocket engines of the United States Rocket engines using the gas-generator cycle