Titan IIIB
Titan 23B launching KH-8 reconnaissance satellite from Vandenberg AFB, CA. (USAF)
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| Function | Medium launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Martin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Size | |
| Height | 45m (147.00 ft) |
| Diameter | 3.05m (10 ft) |
| Mass | 156,540kg (345,110 lb) |
| Stages | 3 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 3,000kg (7,500 lb (23B)) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Titan |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB |
| Total launches | 68 |
| Successes | 62 |
| Failures | 4 |
| Partial failures | 2 |
| First flight | 29 July 1966 |
| Last flight | 12 February 1987 |
| First stage (Titan 23B/33B) | |
| Engines | 2 x LR87-AJ-5 |
| Thrust | 1,913 kN (430,000 lbf) |
| Burn time | 147 seconds |
| Fuel | A-50 hydrazine/N2O4 |
| Second stage | |
| Engines | 2 x LR91-AJ-5 |
| Thrust | 445 kN (100,000 lbf) |
| Burn time | 205 seconds |
| Fuel | A-50 hydrazine/N2O4 |
| Third stage - Agena | |
| Engines | 1 x Bell XLR81-BA-9 |
| Thrust | 71.1 kN (16,000 lbf) |
| Burn time | 240 seconds |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
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 IIIM 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.
The Titan 23B space launch vehicle was a three-stage liquid fueled booster, designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It was able to lift approximately 3,000 kg (7,500 lb) into a polar low-Earth circular orbit. The first stage consisted of a ground ignited LR87 liquid propellant rocket, while the second stage consisted of an LR91 liquid propellant rocket. The third stage was 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".
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.
The Titan IIIB family emerged when the new KH-8 (Gambit Mark 3) photo reconnaissance satellite was being developed as the successor to the KH-7 Gambit Mark 1/2 which began flying in 1963. It was decided to switch to the Titan family over the Atlas used for KH-7 because it had substantially more lift capability and also its conventional two-stage design and hypergolic propellants made for a simpler and more reliable launch vehicle than the quirky Atlas. The KH-8 was double the size of its predecessor but still well below the Titan's lift capability.
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Wikipedia