What launch vehicle did Apollo 7 use?

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What launch vehicle did Apollo 7 use? Apollo 7 used the Saturn IB launch vehicle.

The mission launched on October 11, 1968, from Launch Complex 34 at Cape Kennedy, Florida. Its vehicle was Saturn IB SA-205, an uprated version of the Saturn I designed to send Apollo command and service modules into Earth orbit. Apollo 7 was the first crewed flight to use the Saturn IB.

The Saturn IB had two major propulsion stages. Its S-IB first stage used eight H-1 engines burning kerosene and liquid oxygen, while the S-IVB second stage used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The rocket was powerful enough for Earth-orbit testing but was not the vehicle used for crewed lunar missions; those flights relied on the much larger Saturn V.

Apollo 7’s objective was to test the redesigned Apollo spacecraft and demonstrate that NASA could safely resume crewed Apollo operations after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire. The 11-day mission performed rendezvous and engine tests, transmitted live television, and completed a successful splashdown on October 22, clearing the way for Apollo 8’s lunar mission.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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