Credit: © Mark Wade. 4,419 bytes. 147 x 753 pixels.
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| Titan 4U - Credit: © Mark Wade. 4,419 bytes. 147 x 753 pixels. |
Titan 4 with Upgraded Solid Rocket Motors replacing UA1207. Developed to improve performance for certain missions, and reduce number of field joints in motor after Challenger and Titan 34D explosions involving segmented motors.
Launches: 8. Failures: 2. Success Rate: 75.00% pct. First Launch Date: 23 February 1997. Last Launch Date: 17 August 2000. LEO Payload: 21,680 kg. to: 150 km Orbit. at: 28.6 degrees. Payload: 5,760 kg. to a: Geosynchronous orbit trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 1,396,380 kgf. Total Mass: 943,050 kg. Core Diameter: 3.1 m. Total Length: 44.0 m. Development Cost $: 15,800.00 million. in 1996 average dollars. Launch Price $: 432.00 million. in 1999 price dollars. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 84.30 million. in 1985 unit dollars. Cost comments: There is little reported difference between the launch cost for the Centaur and IUS upper stage versions.
Attached to Cassini
En route Venus
The DSP F19 payload was a USAF Defense Support Program missile early warning satellite equipped with an infrared telescope to detect rocket launches. The Titan 4B placed the IUS upper stages and payload into a 188 km x 718 km x 28.6 deg parking orbit. The first stage of the IUS burned at 18:14 GMT and put the second stage and payload into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The IUS second stage fired at 23:34 GMT. However, the two stages of the IUS failed to separate completely. At least one connector remained attached. This meant the second stage motor nozzle did not extend properly. When the stage fired, the vehicle tumbled during the burn. The DSP was left out of control in a useless orbit.
The Titan core vehicle operated correctly, but a software error in the Centaur stage resulted in all three planned burns being made at the wrong times, during the first orbit instead of over a six hour period. The three burns planned to place Milstar successively in a 170 x 190 km parking orbit, a geostationary transfer orbit, and finally geosynchronous orbit. Instead, at 19:00 GMT, several hours before the scheduled third burn, Milstar separated into a useless 740 km x 5000 km orbit. Milstar-2 F1 was the first upgraded Milstar with an extra Medium Data Rate payload with a higher throughput. The payload included EHF (44 GHz), SHF (20 GHz) and UHF communications transponders and satellite-to-satellite crosslinks, with narrow beams to avoid jamming.
This classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite represented the first successful Titan launch in four attempts. The payload had been reported to be a Lacrosse radar imaging reconnaissance satellite. However the short 50 foot Titan fairing was used instead of the 66 foot fairing used by Lacrosse. This only seems to be used previously for an Improved Crystal photo-reconnaissance satellite in November 1992. The payload therefore could be related to the ocean surveillance triplets, or be an Improved CRYSTAL derivative.
Early warning satellite for the US Air Force. Delivered by the two-stage IUS-22 solid rocket into geostationary orbit. Fullfilled mission of DSP 19 launched in 1999 into the wrong orbit when its IUS stage failed.
The National Reconnaissance Office satellite was reported to be an Onyx (formerly Lacrosse) radar imaging spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin. The Titan second stage reached a 572 x 675 km x 68.0 deg orbit and separated from the payload. Amateur observers reported the payload has made two small maneuvers and by Aug 23 was in a 681 x 695 km x 68.1 deg orbit.