0 - FTP Directory Listing - Nato

19-41
5.8.1.8 A/Im faniity of whicles
Thc Atlno is a former Air Forcc Intcmn!iwntal 13allistic
Missilc (ICBM) wcapn systcm mnvcrtcd foor ux 89 a space
launch whfck. The Atlas D was man-rntd and flnv four
suarssful mhions during thc Mcrcury pm7mm. including
thc first U.S. manncd orbital flight by John Cilcnn. Ihc sys-
tcm aomyt. now ovcr 30 ycan old. hm gone through a
xricsofmc#lcrnizatinns and upgradcs. which haw enhanced
iu paylox! ptrformana: cnpability comkkmhly. Thcrc arc
scvcral Atlas vcnioru. misting and plnnncd. hut common to
all is thc USE ofonc and a half liquid propcllant stagcs. bth
stap ("hnstcr" and "sustainer") arc ipitcd on Ihc grnund
and burn in parallcl. After thc bc#%tcr enzincs arc jctti-
soncd. the sustainer cnginc aintinucs burning to orhit. 'I'hc
prime conlmtor for thc Atlv hmily of woliclcs is Gcncral
Dynamics Corporation. San Diego. California.
AtlacE. Tltc Atlas E is a DOD launch vchiclc prcscntly uxd
to launch smaller payloads to low polar orbit from spacc
launch complex SIC-3 at Vandcnkrg Air Form Dax
(VAnO). 'Thc vchiclcs are fonncr Atla lCllMs that haw
bccn decommissmncd. rcfwbishcd. modikcl. tcstcd. and
ccrtifird for spacc flight. Tbc Atlas E is primarily uxd tosup
porl the Don hfcnsc MctcorolqiG?l !htcllitc Program
(DMSP)and the National Occanic and Atmmphcric Agcncy
(N0M)satcllitcs. Itcanplacc IRolh(BRl)kg)intokrupolar
orbit. Only a fcw vchicks rcmain in invcntory. .
Ailm 11. Thc Atliu I1 is uud for mmmunication satcllitc
im~idtcs such as ~k rxkw Siltciiitc Communicaiions System
(DSCS-Ill). It was sclcctcd as the Air Force hlcdium
leunchvchick I1 (MLV-II)and isdcsigm1topedor.n 110
and GTO missions. It consists of thc hocntcr and R Ccntaur
uppcr stagc and can pl,ra 14.1oI1 Ib (6.410 kg) into IJiO duc
cast. Sen#) Ib(2.W kg) into GI'O. or 3.100 Ih (1410 I:g) into
GEO using a kick stagc.
The Atl;~u mnlracttrr is offcring four venbns of thc Atlas:
Atlas I. Atla 11. Atlas IlA, and Atlm llAS for launching
NASA and mmmercial payloads. Thc Atlm HAS is an im-
proved version ol the Atlas I1 that ha! solid atrap-ons and in
which thc Pratt and Whitncy HI,-10 cngim in t k Ccntaur
upper sta@ is incrcascd in thrust fmm 16,S!I!l Ih to 20.8aI Ib
(7.5UO kg t09.4w kp). Thc Atlas IIAS payW to GTO will be
7.700 lb (3.490 kg)
Gcneral Dynamics Commercial Isumh !?xrvicCs hw pm
pasod arrying wc;ilkd "companion" mtcllita ran&ng
Ib 23% b(W& t~ XWkpJto EO at ~ . s k g
on 1nuncl-m of pd,mmy p y w
s.E.il.3 ~itmjkvdy O~L.&~CIU
rh Etan fCMIJi!g, of whEcks io a of fir Force vehkb
thct his ev~lved Pmm tk Titan ICBM system over t k pipst
35 pa *FRP@~ mnin b~rtch whick confiprations pmntly
&I: 'K%nn HB SpCOi? hunch &hi& (SLV), Titan 111 Cornmcrciral.
and 'FiPnn w, with vanat.bns of each. All ha% m
oorc a9t-w wins liquid propellants. a7~t IW IWO usc
mcntcd SRI% for the initial stage to enhance pcrfonnance.
Compiteu-2 SWP&(dcsipmA SRA4U)wilI soon replam
thc ~tc~l-c.ad ~~ltgs (0 prodrk increcbxd ptrformancc.
/+ddittO.d gXpfXd3 fop im& performancc include the
UIX of IQuid CV-Wnic propellant hten. more and longer
SWIMS. end more liquid cngiincs with strctchcd and/or largcr
diameter core stwc tankage. The pnmc contrnctor for the
Titan family of whicks is Manin Marietta Corporation
Astmnautia Gnwp. Denver. ColoracO.
Titan 11. 17rr Titan I1 spctcc launch vchiclc was concciwd by
DOD to utilize an aristin~ rcsourcc and, at the same time.
augment ihc dwindling Atlas E launch vchiclc invcntory for
launching smaller payloads to plar orbit. Thc Titan 11
vchiclcs(likc thc Atlas Evchic1cs)arc lormcr ICDM wcapon
systems that haw brcn decommissioned. rcmovcd from
thcir sila. ncfurbishcd. madificd. tcstcd. and ocrtificd for
spacc flight. Thcrc wcrc onginally 55 Titan ICDMs in invcn-
tory. and the Air Forcc has a continuing program to modify
and launch thcx vehicles as rcquircd. The initial launch ca-
pability of the Titan 11 was achicvcd in Scptcmhcr. 1988. Thc
Titan IIcanplan:upto4,21#)lb(1.910kg)in 1.EOplarorbit
fie 'vi \, JCC launch complm SIC4 (Wcst) at VAFH. Prop-
ds for upgrading 'Titan II paformanu: includc dcvcloping a
Cape Canavcral Glpahility. long duration circularization
riurnswith addcdpropc;lants. and SRM strapns. Thc;Iddi-
tion of ciaht Calor 1Vs. for cramplc. would launch 8.90 Ib
(4.M5 kg) to LEO polar. Configuration studics includc thc
addition of up to IO GEM solid rocket motor strap-ons.
Titan 11, in ik ballistic missilc mnfiguration.can bc launchcd
with lcss than one minutc ofvdrningsincc propcllant can be
kft for long pcrids of time without dctcrioration of thc fuel
tanks or the propulsion systcm.
Cornmtrcial Titun 111. Thc Commercial Titan 111 is dcrivcd
from thc 7qn WD with a strctchcd xcnnd stagc and a hammerhcad
(largLrdiamctcr)shroud for dual or dcdicatcd payloads.
'The tint commcrcial Titan 111 was Iilunc'lcd in
1)cccmbcr. 19$9, and can launch 32.00 Ih (14.540 kg) into
LEO. It is cnmpatiblc with thc Mclhnncll Douglas
PAM-DII. the Martin Marictta Transtagc. and thc Orhilal
Scicnar Corporation Transfcr Orbit Stagc (TOS) upper
stagcs to provide WO capability of 40M Ib ( 1,850 kg). 3YK) Ib
(4,320 kg), and 11.0 Ih (5.00 kg), rcspcctivcly. Performa
m to GEO is appmrimatcly 5,500 Ih (2,500 kg) using n
spacccraft kick motor. Marlin Marietta h;u cxamincd a
number of paylod dcploymcnt schcmcs for hunching small
payloads, both as auxiliary payloads and U multiplc primary
payloads. but thcx dcsign options have not bccn cxcrci:~!.
Titan IV. The DOD'sTitan IV dcvclopmcnt was hcgun as a
complcmcnt to the Spaa Shuttle. but following the Chal-
LcnEcr accident. thc program was arpandcd lo accomrndalc
critical DOD payloads. Thc program was furtlicr cxpandcd
in 19E17 8) thc full impact of the Shuttle dclays and cancella-
tion of the Shuttk-Ccntaur propm bccamc cicar. '
The Titan IV IWS citkr a 7-jcgmcnt SRM or a 3-xgmcnt
SWMU. It is now capable of dclivcring 10.0 Ib (4.550 kg) to
OEO with t k arrent 7-segri1cnt SRMs. When thc SMHU
b l e w munrkrdeencbptncnt are available. thc Titan IV/
Ccntour will k2 abk LO launch 12.7IID Ib (63% kg) to GEO.
ThC Titan W/OUS is currently operational and is capablc of