Saturn V rocket. Cutaway illustration of the third stage (S-IVB) of the Saturn V rocket. The Saturn V was the launch vehicle for NASA's Apollo programme of manned missions to the Moon, and later Skylab missions. The rocket consisted of three stages. The first stage was used during take-off and the second stage boosted the rocket through the upper atmosphere. The third stage, seen here, was equipped with a single J-2 engine (bottom), running off tanks of liquid hydrogen (upper cylindrical tank) and liquid oxygen (lower spherical tank). It took the Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit, and then onto its trajectory to the Moon. All three stages were jettisoned after use.