Ford RM-92 Air Force Scout

The designation XRM-92 was allocated in 1960 to a U.S. Air Force Scout four-stage rocket (for more information on the USAF's Scout program, see article on RM-89 Blue Scout I), which was identical to the NASA Scout X-1. Available launch records indicate that the Air Force launched three Scout rockets under the XRM-92 designation. NASA, on the other hand, launched a total of seven Scout X-1 rockets between 2 July 1960 and 19 October 1961. Of these, two suborbital missions and one orbital one were completely successful.

In October 1962, the XRM-92 was redesignated as SLV-1A. At least 8 SLV-1A rockets were launched by USAF and NASA until the end of 1963.

Specifications Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate! Data for SLV-1A (XRM-92): Length 21.64 m (71 ft 0 in) Finspan 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) Diameter 1st stage: 102 cm (40 in) 2nd stage: 79 cm (31 in) 3rd stage: 76 cm (30 in) 4th stage: 51 cm (20 in) Weight 16700 kg (36800 lb) Orbital altitude 185 km (115 miles) (for 59 kg (130 lb) payload) Propulsion 1st stage: Aerojet General XM68 (Algol 2A) solid-fueled rocket; 413 kN (92700 lb) for 44 s 2nd stage: Thiokol XM75 (XM33E5 Castor) solid-fueled rocket; 215 kN (48400 lb) for 40 s 3rd stage: Allegany Ballistics XM93 (Lab X-259A2 Antares 2) solid-fueled rocket; 59.4 kN (13350 lb) for 40 s 4th stage: Allegany Ballistics Lab XM87 (X-248A5 Altair) solid-fueled rocket; 13.4 kN (3020 lb) for 38.6 s

Main Sources

[1] Peter Alway: "Rockets of the World, 2000 Supplement", Saturn Press, 2000
[2] Mark Wade: Encyclopedia Astronautica
[3] USAF Missile Nomenclature Records
[4] R.H. McCulloch: "Standard Launch Vehicle 1 (SLV-1) System", 1963 (DTIC File AD423703)

Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1

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Last Updated: 4 July 2007