Man-rating of the Apollo launch escape system was planned to be accomplished at minimum cost early in the program.

The program was originally planned to be conducted at the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range at Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Fabrication of the detail parts for the first vehicle started in August 1962, and the final factory systems checkout was completed in July 1963.

The vehicle was sized to match the diameter of the Apollo spacecraft service module and to suit the length of the Algol rocket motors.

Whenever possible, vehicle systems were designed to use readily available off-the-shelf components that had proven reliability from use in other aerospace programs, and this further reduced overall costs by minimizing the amount of qualification testing required.

The Qualification Test Vehicle (QTV) did not destruct when commanded to do so because improperly installed primacord did not propagate the initial detonation to the shaped charges on the Algol motor case.

The fourth mission (A-003) launch vehicle became uncontrolled about 2.5 seconds after lift-off when an aerodynamic fin moved to a hard over position as the result of an electronic failure.

In addition, two pad abort tests were conducted in which the launch escape system was activated at ground level.