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Redstone MRLV

Redstone MRLV

Redstone family · built by Chrysler · maiden flight 1960-11-21

Profile data last updated: 2026-08-29T15:37:07.354998+00:00 | 7531-10-17

The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, designed for NASA's Project Mercury, was the first American manned space booster. It was used for six sub-orbital Mercury flights from 1960–61; culminating with the launch of the first, and 11 weeks later, the second American (and the second and third humans) in space. The four subsequent Mercury human spaceflights used the more powerful Atlas booster to enter low Earth orbit. A member of the Redstone rocket family, it was derived from the U.S. Army's Redstone ballistic missile and the first stage of the related Jupiter-C launch vehicle; but to human-rate it, the structure and systems were modified to improve safety and reliability.

Specifications

25.41 mLength
1.78 mDiameter
30 tLaunch mass
1Stages

Payload Capacity

No payload capacity figures published for this configuration.

Lifetime Launch Record

As reported by Launch Library 2 across this rocket's entire history, not just the launches tracked on this site.

6Total launches
5Successful
1Failed
0Upcoming

Launches Tracked on This Site

6In our archive
83.3%Success rate
Nov 21, 1960 14:00 UTCEarliest tracked
Jul 21, 1961 12:20 UTCMost recent
MissionDateStatus
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 4 Jul 21, 1961 12:20 UTC Success
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 3 May 05, 1961 14:34 UTC Success
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone BD Mar 24, 1961 17:30 UTC Success
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 2 Jan 31, 1961 16:55 UTC Success
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 1A Dec 19, 1960 16:15 UTC Success
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 1 Nov 21, 1960 14:00 UTC Failure

Wikipedia