The Saturn IB was commissioned by NASA as a launch vehicle for the Apollo program, replacing the S-IV second stage of the Saturn I with more powerful S-IVB.Used for early flight tests (before the larger Saturn V needed for lunar flight was ready), the Saturn 1B was able to launch a partially fueled Apollo Command/Service Module or a fully fueled Lunar Module into low Earth orbit. It launched 2 unmanned CSM suborbital flights, 1 unmanned LM orbital flight, and the first manned CSM orbital mission.
In 1973, the year after the Apollo lunar program ended, three Apollo CSM/Saturn IBs ferried crews to the Skylab space station. In 1975, one last Apollo/Saturn IB launched the Apollo portion of the joint US-USSR Apollo Soyuz Test Project. A backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready for a Skylab rescue mission but never flown.
Be a part of history! Purchase this resin composite model, which stands a staggering 37.375 high, and re-imagine the powerful contribution the Saturn 1B has had on the American Space Program.