PGM-19 Jupiter Nuclear Missile

The Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM), in service from 1960 to 1963, was an important link between early short-range rockets and later weapons that could reach any point on Earth. Its development began in 1956 as a joint U.S. Army and U.S. Navy project.

Originally designed for shipboard use. Jupiter was a compromise between Army and Navy designs. In 1956, the Department of Defense gave the U.S. Air Force responsibility for building and operating all missiles with more than a 200-mile range. Jupiter instantly became a U.S Air Force program.

Jupiter was a single-stage liquid-fueled missile using an internal guidance system. It was the first mobile strategic ballistic missile to use the ablative heat shield on the nosecone section. Such she would be used on the Mere Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft Some modified versions of the Jupiter were used as first-stage boosters for early U.S, space satellite launches. Jupiter is perhaps best known as a bargaining chip in the resolution of the 1963 Cuban Missile Crisis.

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