Titan IIIB
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Titan IIIB was the collective name for a number of derivatives of the Titan II ICBM and Titan III launch vehicle, modified by the addition of an Agena upper stage. It consisted of four separate rockets. The Titan 23B was a basic Titan II with an Agena upper stage, and the Titan 24B was the same concept, but using the slightly enlarged Titan III rocket as the base. The Titan 33B was a Titan 23B with the Agena (which had a smaller diameter than the Titan) enclosed in an enlarged fairing, in order to allow larger payloads to be launched. The final member of the Titan IIIB family was the Titan 34B which was a Titan 24B with the larger fairing used on the Titan 33B.
Contents |
[edit] Titan 23B
| Titan 23B | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Stages | 3 | |
| 1 - 1st Stage | Engines | LR87-AJ-5 |
| Thrust | 430,000 lbf (1,913 kN) | |
| Burn time | 147 seconds | |
| Fuels | A-50 hydrazine/N204 | |
| 2 - 2nd Stage | Engine | LR91-AJ-5 |
| Thrust | 100,000 lbf (445 kN) | |
| Burn time | 205 seconds | |
| Fuels | A-50 hydrazine/N204 | |
| 3 - Agena D 3rd Stage | Engine | Bell XLR81-BA-9 |
| Thrust | 16,000 lbf (71.1 kN) | |
| Burn time | 240 seconds | |
| Fuels | Nitrogen Tetroxide/UDMH | |
| Launch Vehicle | 1st Launch July, 1966 | |
| Payload LEO Polar orbit | 7,500 lb (3,000 kg) | |
Titan 23B is a medium-lift space launch vehicle used to carry payloads for the Air Force. The Titan 23B was launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Its main payload was the GAMBIT (KH-8 reconnaissance) satellites.
[edit] Features
The Titan 23B space launch vehicle was a three-stage liquid fueled booster, designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It is able to lift approximately 3,000 kg (7,500 lb) 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. The third stage is an Agena D XLR81-BA-9 liquid propellant rocket.
Various models of this Titan/Agena D rocket were called, "Titan 23B", "Titan 24B", "Titan 33B" and "Titan 34B".
[edit] Background
The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force awarded 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 23B is a derivative of the Titan II vehicle with an Agena D upper stage added.
- Primary function: Launch vehicle used to lift medium class satellites into space
- Builder: The Martin Company
- Launch site: Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
- First stage: Length: 70 ft (21 m)
- Diameter: 10 feet
- Engine thrust: 474,000 lbf (2,108 kN) vacuum
- Weight: 258,000 lb (117,020 kg) Fueled
- Empty weight: 10,500 lb (4,760 kg)
- Second stage: Length: 24 ft (7.3 m)
- Diameter: 10 ft (3.0 m)
- Engine Thrust: 100,000 lbf (445 kN) vacuum
- Weight: 64,000 lb (29,030 kg) Fueled
- Empty weight: 6,100 lb (2,760 kg)
- Third stage: Length: 24.8 ft (7.6 m)
- Diameter: 5 ft (1.5 m)
- Engine thrust: 16,000 lbf (71 kN) vacuum
- Weight: 7160 kg (15800 lb) - fueled
- Empty Weight: 2300 lb (1045 kg)
- Guidance: Inertial
- Subcontractor: Delco Electronics
- Payload fairing: Diameter: 5 ft (1.5 m)
- Length: 20 to 25 ft (6.1 to 7.6 m)
- Skin and Stringer Construction -- Tri-Sector Design
- Subcontractor: Boeing
- Date deployed: July 1966
[edit] Titan 24B
[edit] Titan 33B
[edit] Titan 34B
[edit] See also
- Titan (rocket family)
- KH-8 GAMBIT reconnaissance satellite.
