Titan (rocket family)

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Titan family

Image:Titan2.jpg
Titan II launching a Gemini spacecraft.

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Titan I
Stages		2
1	Engines	1 × LR87-AJ-3
Thrust		300,000 lb_f (1,334 kN)
Burn time		140 s
Fuels		RP-1/LOX
2	Engines	1 × LR91-AJ-3
Thrust		80,000 lb_f (356 kN)
Burn time		155 s
Fuels		RP-1/LOX
Payload to LEO		4,000 lb (1,800 kg)
Payload to GTO

Titan II
Stages		2 (nominally)
1	Engines	1 × LR87-AJ-5
Thrust		430,000 lb_f (1,913 kN)
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
2	Engines	1 × LR91-AJ-5
Thrust		100,000 lb_f (445 kN)
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
Payload to LEO		8,250 lb (3,750 kg) Gemini spacecraft
Payload to GTO		500 lb (227 kg) Clementine Lunar Probe

Titan III
Stages		3
0	Engines	Solid Rocket Motors
Thrust
Burn time
Fuels
1	Engines	1 × LR87-AJ-11
Thrust
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
2	Engines	1 × LR91-AJ-11
Thrust
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
Payload to LEO		23,000 lb (10,400 kg)
Payload to GTO

Titan IVA
Stages		3
0	Engines	Solid Rocket Motors
Thrust
Burn time
Fuels
1	Engines	1 × LR87-AJ-11
Thrust		511,200 lb_f (2,273 kN) average
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
2	Engines	1 × LR91-AJ-11
Thrust		106,150 lb_f (472 kN) average
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
Payload to LEO		39,100 lb (18,000 kg)
Payload to GEO		10,000 lb (4,500 kg)

Titan IVB
Stages		3
0	Engines	Solid Rocket Motors
Thrust		1,700,000 lb_f (3,114 kN) each
Burn time
Fuels		88% HTP
1	Engines	1 × LR87-AJ-11
Thrust		511,200 lb_f (2,273 kN) average
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
2	Engines	1 × LR91-AJ-11
Thrust		106,150 lb_f (472 kN) average
Burn time
Fuels		A-50 hydrazine/N₂0₄
Payload to LEO		47,800 lb (21,700 kg)
Payload to GEO		12,700 lb (5,800 kg)

Titan was a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. 368 rockets of this family were launched.

The Titan I was the first version of the Titan family of rockets. It began as a backup ICBM project in case the Atlas was delayed. It was a two-stage rocket powered by RP-1 and LOX. The Titan I and Atlas ICBM's using RP-1/LOX fuel did not have a fast reaction time. They took about 1/2 hour to fuel and launch.

Most Titan rockets were derivatives of the Titan II ICBM. The Titan II was a hypergolicly-fueled two-stage ICBM that was used by the U.S. Air Force from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s. In the late 80s some of the deactivated Titan IIs were converted into space launch vehicles to be used launching U.S. Government payloads. The final such vehicle launched a DMSP weather satellite from Vandenberg AFB on October 18, 2003 [1]. Titan IIs were also used to launch the U.S. manned Gemini capsules.

The Titan 23B and its derivatives (24B, 33B, and 34B) were Titan IIs with an Agena D upper stage. This combination was used to launch the KH-8 GAMBIT series of spy satellites. They were all launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA, into polar orbits. The payload was about 7,500 lb (3,000 kg).

The Titan III was a stretched Titan II with optional solid rocket boosters. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force as a heavy-lift satellite launcher to be used mainly to launch U.S. Military payloads such as DSP early-warning, intelligence (spy), and defense communications satellites. It was also used to launch some NASA scientific probes such as the Voyagers.

The Titan IV is a stretched Titan III with non-optional solid rocket boosters and a Centaur upper stage. It was almost exclusively used to launch U.S. Military payloads, though it was also used to launch NASA's Cassini probe to Saturn after the Shuttle-Centaur program was cancelled following the loss of Challenger. Titan IV was the largest launch vehicle flying as of 2005. It was extremely expensive to operate.

Liquid oxygen is very dangerous to use in an enclosed space, such as a missile silo. Several Atlas and Titan I rockets exploded and destroyed their silos. The Martin Company was able to improve the Titan design in the Titan II. The LOX/RP-1 was replaced by storable fuel in the Titan II. The same first stage rocket engines were used with some modifications. The diameter of the second stage was increased to match the first stage. The Titan II storable fuel and oxydizer are hypergolic, they ignite on contact when mixed. This also was dangerous to handle in an enclosed space. There were several accidents in Titan II silos resulting in loss of life. In August 1965, 53 construction workers were killed when hydraulic fluid used in the Titan II, caught fire in a missile silo in Arkansas. In the 1980s, in another Arkansas Titan II silo, leaking rocket fuel ignited and blew the 6,000 lb nuclear warhead out of the silo and several hundred feet away. This marked the beginning of the end for the Titan II as an ICBM. The 54 Titan II's were replaced in the U.S. arsenal by 50 MX Peacekeeper solid fuel missiles in late 1980s. Approximately 50 Titan IIs were fielded along with some 1000 Minutemen from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s.

In 2004, only three Titan IVBs remained to be launched and no more were ordered. The current owners of the Titan line (Lockheed-Martin) decided to extend their Atlas family of rockets instead of the more expensive Titans, along with joint ventures to sell launches on the Proton and the new Delta IV class of medium and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The second-to-last Titan launched successfully from Cape Canaveral on April 29, 2005. The final Titan launched successfully from Vandenberg on October 19, 2005, carrying a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

All of the Titan ICBM sites have been destroyed except one that is now the Titan Missile Museum near Tucson, Arizona.