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The Daily Insight

How heavy was Saturn V at lift off?

Author

Isabella Ramos

Updated on March 01, 2026

Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds), the weight of about 400 elephants. The rocket generated 34.5 million newtons (7.6 million pounds) of thrust at launch, creating more power than 85 Hoover Dams.

What is the largest rocket ever made?

Aug. 6 (UPI) — SpaceX briefly constructed the largest rocket ever made Friday, attaching the U.S. aerospace company’s Starship spacecraft to the Super Heavy booster at its facility in Texas. The combined height of the structure was 400 feet, nearly 40 feet taller than the next largest Saturn V rocket built by NASA.

How much horsepower does the Saturn V rocket have?

At lift off, the Saturn V pummelled the Earth with 3.4 million kg of thrust – equivalent to 160 million horsepower – and took 11 seconds to lumber clear of the launchpad.

How fast does a Saturn 5 rocket go?

When Saturn V blasted off from the Earth, the first stage burned for 2.5 minutes, lifting the rocket to an altitude of 68 km (42 miles) and a speed of 2.76 km/s (9,920 km/h or 6,164 mph).

Is Artemis bigger than Saturn 5?

Artemis I, the first integrated flight of SLS and Orion, uses the Block 1 configuration, which stands 322 feet, taller than the Statue of Liberty, and weighs 5.75 million lbs. SLS will produce 8.8 million lbs. of maximum thrust, 15 percent more thrust than the Saturn V rocket.

Is the SLS more powerful than Saturn V?

If we use thrust as a measure, the SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever when it flies to space in 2021. The Block 1 SLS will generate 8.8 million pounds (39.1 Meganewtons) of thrust at launch, 15% more than the Saturn V.

How much weight can a Saturn V rocket launch?

The Saturn V could launch about 43,500 kilograms (50 tons) to the moon. That’s about the same as four school buses. The Saturn V was developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. It was one of three types of Saturn rockets NASA built.

What happened to the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 13?

On Apollo 13, the Saturn V lifted the crew into space, but a problem prevented them from being able to land on the moon. That problem was not with the Saturn V, but with the Apollo spacecraft. The last Saturn V was launched in 1973, without a crew. It was used to launch the Skylab space station into Earth orbit.

How many school buses could the Saturn V rocket launch?

It could launch about 118,000 kilograms (130 tons) into Earth orbit. That’s about as much weight as 10 school buses. The Saturn V could launch about 43,500 kilograms (50 tons) to the moon. That’s about the same as four school buses.

What was the instrument unit for the Apollo 4 Saturn V?

The instrument unit for the Apollo 4 Saturn V The instrument unit was built by IBM and was placed on top of the third stage. It was constructed at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This computer controlled the operations of the rocket from just before liftoff until the S-IVB was discarded.