Mission
Titan II is a medium-lift space launch vehicle used to carry payloads for the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NSASA) 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, Calif.
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 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 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 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, Ariz. 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.
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(Current as of March 2001)
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