The Athena family is targeted at the small to medium payload markets, serving both government and commercial customers.   The Athena I and II vehicles are capable of placing satellites into LEO, GTO and interplanetary orbits.  The first launch of an Athena rocket occured in August, 1995 and ended in failure.  Recently, Athena I and Athena II vehicles have been used to launch NASA's Lewis and Lunar Prospector missions as well as ROCSAT-1 for the People's Republic of China.  Although Athena vehicles have been launched from the Eastern (CCAS) and Western (VAFB) Ranges, the Athena vehicle is slated to begin launching from the Kodiak Spaceport, located in Alaska, to serve orbit inclinations from 65 to 120 degrees.

The Athena launch system integrates several different solid motor stages and common equipment to create the three stage Athena I and four stage Athena II vehicles.  The Athena I is capable of placing 1,800 lbm into an easterly LEO orbit while the more powerful Athena II can loft 4,520 lbm.  The Athena is based on a robust, high confidence design which utilizes proven technologies, systems and hardware.  Common to the two vehicles are the avionics package, secondary structure, separation system, destruct system, and launch equipment.  The Athena I uses a Castor 120 solid motor first stage manufactured by Thiokol, an Orbus 21D solid motor second stage manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion Operations, and a hydrazine fueled Orbit Adjust Module (OAM) built by Primex Technologies.  The Athena II uses the same vehicle stack but adds a first-stage comprised of an additional Castor 120 motor.