Titan II - Definition and Overview

Titan II
Launch of a Titan II ICBM from underground silo. (USAF)
Stages		2
1 - 1st Stage	Engines	LR87-AJ-5
Thrust		430,000 lbf (1,900 kN)
Burn time		156 seconds
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N204
2 - 2nd Stage	Engine	LR91-AJ-5
Thrust		100,000 lbf (445 kN)
Burn time		180 seconds
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N204
ICBM & Launch Vehicle		1st Launch April , 1962
Payload LEO		8,250 lb (3,750 kg)
Payload Escape		500 lb (227 kg)

Mission

Titan II is a medium-lift space launch vehicle used to carry payloads for the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These payloads include the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the NOAA weather satellites. The Titan II is launched from Vandenberg AFB, California.

Features

The Titan II space launch vehicle is a two-stage liquid fueled booster, designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It is able to lift approximately 4,200 pounds (1,900 kg) into a polar low-Earth circular orbit. The first stage consists of a ground ignited LR87 liquid propellant rocket, while the second stage consists of a LR91 liquid propellant rocket.

Background

The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin (formerly the Martin Company) a contract to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It became known as the Titan I, the nation’s first two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM. More than 140 Titan II ICBMs, once the vanguard of America’s strategic deterrent force, were built. Titan IIs also were flown in NASA’s Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s.

The Titan II space-launch vehicles are decommissioned ICBMs that have been refurbished and equipped with hardware required for use as space launch vehicles. The Martin Marietta Astronautics Group was awarded a contract in January 1986 to refurbish, integrate, and launch fourteen Titan II ICBMs for government space launch requirements.

• Tasks involved in converting the Titan II ICBMs into space launch vehicles include:

• • Modifying the forward structure of the second stage to accommodate payload
  • Manufacturing a new 10 foot (3 m) diameter payload fairing with variable lengths plus payload adapters
  • Refurbishing the Titan’s liquid rocket engines; upgrading the inertial guidance system; developing command, destruct and telemetry systems
  • Modifying Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Space Launch Complex-4 West to conduct the launches
  • Performing payload integration

Deactivation of the Titan II ICBM system began in July 1982 and was completed in June 1987. The deactivated missiles are now in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The Air Force successfully launched the first Titan II space launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB September 5, 1988. NASA’s Clementine spacecraft, which was launched aboard a Titan II in January 1994, discovered water on the moon in November 1996.

• Primary function: Launch vehicle used to lift medium class satellites into space

• Builder: Lockheed-Martin Astronautics

• Launch site: Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

• First stage: length: 70 feet (21.3 m)
• Diameter: 10 feet (3 m)
• Engine thrust: 474,000 lbf (2,100 kN) vacuum
• Weight: 258,000 lb (117,020 kg) fueled
  • Empty weight: 10,500 lb (4,760 kg)

• Second stage: length: 24 feet (7.3 m)
• Diameter: 10 feet (3 m)
• Engine thrust: 100,000 lbf (440 kN) vacuum
• Weight: 64,000 lb (29,030 kg) fueled
  • Empty weight: 6,100 lb (2,760 kg)

• Guidance: Inertial with Digital Computers
• Subcontractor: Delco Electronics

• Payload fairing: diameter: 10 feet (3 m)
• Length: 20 feet (6.1 m)

• Skin and Stringer Construction -- Tri-Sector Design
• Subcontractor: Boeing

• Liquid rocket engines: Refurbished Titan II ICBM Engines
• Subcontractor: Aerojet Tech Systems

• Date deployed: September 1988

Reference

USAF Titan II Fact Sheet (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/afspc-fs/titan2.htm)