![]() Ares I-X before launch | |
Ares I-X launch | |
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Launch | October 28, 2009, 15:30 | UTC
Operator | NASA |
Pad | Kennedy LC-39B |
Outcome | Success |
Apogee | c. 28 miles (45 km) |
Launch duration | 6 minutes |
Components | |
First stage | 4-segment SRB with a fifth segment mass simulator |
Second stage | Upper stage simulator (USS) |
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Ares I-X insignia |
Ares I-X was the first-stage prototype and design concept demonstrator of Ares I, a launch system for human spaceflight developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ares I-X was successfully launched on October 28, 2009.[1][2] The project cost was $445 million.[3] It was the final launch from LC-39B until Artemis 1 13 years later.
The Ares I-X vehicle used in the test flight was similar in shape, mass, and size to the planned configuration of later Ares I vehicles, but had largely dissimilar internal hardware consisting of only one powered stage. Ares I vehicles were intended to launch Orion crew exploration vehicles. Along with the Ares V launch system and the Altair lunar lander, Ares I and Orion were part of NASA's Constellation program, which was developing spacecraft for U.S. human spaceflight after the Space Shuttle retirement.