Studied in 1965, the same year that

Project Gemini Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...

started, the Saturn IB-C was simply designed as an orbital launch vehicle like the original

Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, 43,3 ...

. The booster would consist of an ordinary Saturn IB with four

Minuteman Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

first stages used as strap-on boosters. The Saturn IB core booster did fly from 1966 until 1975, but never with any strap-on boosters.

References

* Lowther, Scott, Saturn: Development, Details, Derivatives and Descendants, Work in progress. Available chapters may be ordered directly from Scott Lowther at web site indicated. Accessed at: https://web.archive.org/web/20070521083808/http://www.webcreations.com/ptm. {{Saturns Saturn IB