It was derived from the German World War II BMW 018 design, and developed by ex-BMW engineers through a progression of more powerful models.

The name is derived from its original design group, Atelier technique aéronautique de Rickenbach near Lindau within the French Occupation Zone of Germany.

[1] Hermann Oestrich's team in charge of the development of the BMW 003 engine had moved to the town of Stassfurt, near Magdeburg, in February 1945.

Oestrich had by this time moved to Munich for further interrogation, and from there to England at the request of British engine designer Roy Fedden.

The French forces had found a number of BMW 003 turbojet engines in their occupation zone after the war, and were interested in setting up a production line.

In January a further five-year contract was offered to the entire team, including protected wages, provisions for their families, few travel restrictions, and the possibility of French citizenship.

During this time a new turbine made of solid high-temperature steels replaced the earlier air-cooled models, allowing for better aerodynamic shaping and an improved compression ratio.

After delivering the initial production run of B models, the Atar 101C used an improved compressor and combustion chamber, raising the thrust to 27,400 N (6,200 lbf).

The Atar 101D featured a slightly larger turbine with new high-temperature alloys that allowed the exit temperature to rise to 1,000 °C and the thrust to 29,420 N (6,610 lbf).

The D model also included a new exhaust consisting of a long pipe ending in a nozzle with two "eyelid" shutters in place of the earlier fore/aft moving cone on the inside, a feature of the WW II Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet, which was known as the Zwiebel (onion) from its shape.

Production started in 1957 with a contract for 370 aircraft, but this was later cut back to 180 in light of the performance of the Dassault Mirage III which was then undergoing testing.

Overall design and dimensions were similar to the 101, but the new engine included a nine-stage compressor in place of the earlier seven-stage one, and a smaller two-stage turbine to power it.

SNECMA began studies on an engine to power it, initially consisting of the compressor design of the existing Atar 101, but replacing all of the light alloys with steels in order to handle the increased operating temperatures.

Both engines were developed in parallel to the Atar in the early 1950s in order to fill particular performance niches, the Vulcain for the Mystère IV D, and the Vesta for a variety of designs.

The combustion area consisted of twenty steel flame cans arranged in a "canular" layout, exiting into the single-stage turbine.