Inertial Upper Stage
Painting of Ulysses deploying from the Space Shuttle
|
|
| Manufacturer |
Boeing United Technologies |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Used on |
Space Shuttle Titan 34D Titan IV |
| General characteristics | |
| Height | 5.2 m (17 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) |
| Gross mass | 14,700 kg (32,400 lb) |
| Associated stages | |
| Derivatives | TOS |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Total launches | 24 |
| Successes (stage only) |
21 |
| Failed | 2 |
| Lower stage failed |
1 |
| First flight | 30 October 1982 |
| Last flight | 14 February 2004 |
| Stage 1 | |
| Length | 3.15 m (10.3 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in) |
| Gross mass | 10,400 kg (22,900 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 9,700 kg (21,400 lb) |
| Engines | Orbus-21 |
| Thrust | 190 kN (43,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 295.5 s |
| Burn time | up to 150 seconds |
| Fuel | Solid |
| Stage 2 | |
| Length | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) |
| Diameter | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Gross mass | 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 2,700 kg (6,000 lb) |
| Engines | Orbus-6 |
| Thrust | 80 kN (18,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 289.1 s |
| Fuel | Solid |
The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), originally designated the Interim Upper Stage, was a two-stage solid-fueled rocket upper stage developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force beginning in 1976 for raising payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits or interplanetary trajectories following launch aboard a Titan 34D or Titan IV rocket, or from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle.
During the development of the Space Shuttle, NASA, with support from the Air Force, wanted an upper stage that could be used on the Shuttle to deliver payloads from low earth orbit to higher energy orbits such as GTO or to escape velocity for planetary probes. The candidates were the Centaur, propelled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the Transtage, propelled by hypergolic storable propellants Aerozine-50 and N2O4, and the Interim Upper Stage, using solid propellant. The DOD reported that Transtage could support all defense needs, but could not meet NASA's scientific requirements, the IUS could support most defense needs and some science missions, while the Centaur could meet all needs of both the Air Force and NASA. Development began on both the Centaur and the IUS, and a second stage was added to the IUS design which could be used either as an apogee-kick motor for inserting payloads directly into geostationary orbit or to increase the payload mass brought to escape velocity. Development of the Shuttle-Centaur was halted after the Challenger disaster, and the Interim Upper Stage became the Inertial Upper Stage.
When launched from the Space Shuttle, IUS could deliver up 2,270 kilograms (5,000 lb) directly to GEO or up to 4,940 kilograms (10,890 lb) to GTO.
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