Titan IIIE

Launch of a Titan IIIE with Voyager 2
FunctionExpendable launch system
ManufacturerMartin Marietta
Convair Aerospace Division of General Dynamics
(prime contractor for the third stage Centaur D-1T)
Country of originUnited States
Size
Height48.8 meters (160 ft)[1]: 142 
Diameter3.05 meters (10.0 ft)[1]: 142 
Mass632,970 kilograms (1,395,460 lb)
Stages3 with an option for 4
Capacity
Payload to Low Earth orbit
Mass15,400 kilograms (34,000 lb)
Payload to Heliocentric orbit (TMI)
Mass3,700 kilograms (8,200 lb)
Associated rockets
FamilyTitan
Launch history
StatusRetired
Launch sitesLaunch Complex 41
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Total launches7
Success(es)6
Failure(s)1
First flightFebruary 11, 1974
Last flightSeptember 5, 1977
Type of passengers/cargoVoyager (1 / 2)
Viking (1 / 2)
Helios (A / B)
Zero stage – Solid Rocket Boosters
Powered byUA1205
Chemical Systems Division of United Technologies[1]: 142 
(two, five-segment, strap-on boosters)
Maximum thrust5,339 kilonewtons (1,200,000 lbf)
(each booster)[2]: 2–1 
Specific impulse266 sec[2]: 2–1 
Burn time117 seconds[2]: 1–2 
First stage – Core First Stage
Powered byLR87-11 (two)
Aerojet[1]: 142 
Maximum thrust2,313 kilonewtons (520,000 lbf)[2]: 2–1 
or
2,091 kilonewtons (470,000 lbf)[1]: 142 
Specific impulse301.1 sec[2]: 2–1 
Burn time146 seconds[2]: 1–2 
PropellantN2O4 / Aerozine 50[2]: 2–1 
Second stage – Core Second Stage
Powered byLR91-11 (one))
Aerojet[1]: 142 
Maximum thrust449 kilonewtons (101,000 lbf)[2]: 2–1 
or
444.8 kilonewtons (100,000 lbf)[1]: 142 
Specific impulse318.7 sec[2]: 2–1 
Burn time210 seconds[2]: 1–3 
PropellantN2O4 / Aerozine 50[2]: 2–1 
Third stage – Centaur D-1T
Powered byRL10A-3 (two)
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation[2]: 1–6 
Maximum thrust66.7 kilonewtons (15,000 lbf) (each engine)[1]: 142 
Specific impulse444 sec
Burn time470 seconds
PropellantLH2 / LOX[2]: 1–4 
Fourth stage – Star 37E
Powered by1 solid
Thiokol
Maximum thrust68 kilonewtons (15,000 lbf)
Specific impulse283.6 sec[3]
Burn time42 seconds
PropellantSolid

The Titan IIIE or Titan 3E, also known as the Titan III-Centaur, was an American expendable launch system. Launched seven times between 1974 and 1977,[4] it enabled several high-profile NASA missions, including the Voyager and Viking planetary probes and the joint West Germany-U.S. Helios spacecraft. All seven launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference Hydrogen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Convair Aerospace Division of General Dynamics; Martin Marietta Aerospace (September 1973). Titan IIIE/Centaur D-IT Systems Summary (PDF) (Report). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  3. ^ Krebs, Gunter (February 14, 2011). "Star-37". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  4. ^ Wade, Mark. "Titan". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on August 5, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2009.

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