Saturn C

Background

The Saturn C series study oversaw the evolution of a heavy launch vehicle that would eventually become the Saturn V. Only the Saturn C-1 and C-5 variants actually flew, as Saturn I and Saturn V respectively.

Saturn C-2 is a four-stage launch vehicle using the S-I and S-IV stages from Saturn I, and inserting an S-II second stage powered by four J-2 engines (a smaller variant of the five engine S-II used on Saturn V). The launch vehicle is topped by Centaur D (S-V stage).

Saturn C-3 features a widened S-IB-2 first stage tank with two or three F-1 engines, and the same S-II and S-IV stages as the C-2. The C-3N features a nuclear NERVA engine in the third stage.

Saturn C-4 consists of three stages: an S-IB-4 first stage with four F-1 engines, the S-II second stage, and a J-2 powered S-IVB third stage. The C-5 adds a fifth J-2 to the S-II stage, finalising the configuration that would become the Saturn V launch vehicle.

Saturn C-8 is a larger than Saturn V "Nova Class" rocket designed for Apollo direct ascent lunar missions. Almost but not quite entirely identical to the post-Apollo Nova C8 concept for manned Mars missions, the C-8 features eight F-1 engines on a widened S-IC-8 first stage, eight J-2 engines on a widened S-II-8 second stage and a stretched S-IVB stage with a single J-2 engine.

Tags: Sarnus

Variants

Launch Vehicle	First Stage	Second Stage	Third Stage	Fourth Stage
Saturn C-2	Sarnus S-I (8x H-1)	S-II (4x J-2)	S-IV (6x RL10)	S-V (Centaur D)
Saturn C-3B	Sarnus S-IB-2 (2/3x F-1)	S-II	S-IV
Saturn C-3N	Sarnus S-IB-2	S-II	S-IVN (1x NERVA)
Saturn C-4	Sarnus S-IB-4 (4x F-1)	S-II	S-IVB (1x J-2)
Saturn C-8	Sarnus S-IC-8 (8x F-1)	S-II-8 (8x J-2)	S-IVB (1x J-2)

Basic Build Guide

From top to bottom

Upper Stage

• S-V (Centaur D)
• S-IV
• S-IVB
• S-IVN

Second Stage

• S-II

First Stage & Boosters

• S-I
• S-IB
• S-IC