The actual range, flight time, and maximum height of an ICBM are compared to the predictions of five simple approximations that are more sophisticated than the standard flat‐Earth‐with‐constant‐gravity problem but more elementary than the full Keplerian solution. The simplest of these approximations is accessible to first‐year students and gives results in closed form whose range predictions are in good agreement with the Keplerian ranges at typical ICBM speeds.