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Titan 3

by Jean-Jacques Serra


Titan 3 without solid boosters


The first Titan 3 vehicles were based on the 2-stage Titan 2 to which a top stage was added. The motors (version 9) had the same performance as the former versions but were qualified for in-orbit ignition. From 1968 on, the version 11 formerly developped for the MOL program was used for the Titan 3.

Titan 3A was an intermediate rocket to be used for the development of the Titan 3C top stage. This third stage named Transtage was 4.5 m long and 3.05 m diameter. It could be re-ignited in orbit. It was equiped of an 2 Aerojet motor AJ10-138 propulsion bay. Those used the same propellant as the firsts stages and provided a total 71 kN.

It was not used much: only 4 launches from Sep 1964 to May 1965 from Cape Canaveral; first launch was a failure, and the following successes.

Titan 3B was a military launcher exclusivly used from Vandenberg. It used an Agena top stage. It was used to launch reconnaissance satellites from the KH-8 series between 1966 and 1984. The same launcher was used for the classified SDS and Jumpseat launches to Molniya type orbits. In 1975 a version with a a longer first stage and wider cap was introduced: Titan 34B (or Titan 3B Ascent Agena). It was specifically devoted to those military launches.

Titan 3 with solid boosters


Titan 3C was made of the 3 stages of Titan 3A plus two lateral solid boosters of 3.05 m diameter. Unlike Thor's boosters, those built by UTC/CSD did not assist the first stage motors but provided alone the launcher's propulsion during about 2 minutes. With 25.5 m high and 250 tons, each (composed of 5 segments) provided 5340 kN.
The Transtage which contained the full command module of the vehicle including the guidance system could deliver payloads directly in GEO. It was the first rocket to fire 4 times during a flight.
Titan 3C was 39 m high and could orbit 12 tons in LEO and 1 ton in GEO. It was used from 1965 to 1982 to launch telecommunication satellites ( ISDCP, LES, DSCS), early warning birds (Vela, DSP) and SIGINT ( Chalet) from Cape Canaveral.

Titan 3D was assembled with 3 stages from Titan 3B and the 2 lateral 5-segment boosters of Titan 3C. It was launched from Vandenberg between 1971 and 1982 with KH 9 and KH 11 on board.

The Titan 3E developped for civilian applications of NASA the top stage was a cryogenic Centaur. This 9.1 m long stage had the same diameter as the 2 first stages but was under a 4.27 m diameter cap. With 48 m high and 640 tons Titan 3E could put 3.6 tons on escape orbit. It was thus used for interplanetary missions as Helios, Voyager and Viking between 1974 and 1977.

An enhanced version of the Titan 3 rockets was introduced in 1982. The new launcher named Titan 34D used the first stage of Titan 34B. The solid boosters were elongated (5.5 compared to 5 segments) and delivered 6230 kN during 114 seconds each. The motors of the first stage provided 2440 kN (in vacuum) during 160 s and the second stage 467 kN during 225 s. The top stage could be either Transtage or IUS.
This launcher (680 tons) was fired 15 times between 1982 and 1989. It could place 14.8 tons on LEO and 1.9 tons in GEO.

In the late eighties Martin Marietta derived 2 commercial versions of the Titan 34D: one for the launch of satellites directly in GEO with Transtage and the other to launch satellites with perigee motor in LEO. Only the latter was bought and fired 4 times between 1990 and 1992 under the Titan 3 commercial designation.

Titan 3 launches


# Launch id Payload Launch Date Site Type Status/Comment (orbit in perigee x apogee x inclination x period)
1, 3A-2 n/a Transtage 1 2 Sep 1964 CC Titan-3A Failure
2, 3A-1   Transtage 2 10 Dec 1964 CC Titan-3A  
3, 3A-3 65008 LES 1 11 Feb 1965 CC Titan-3A  
4, 3A-4 65034 B: LES 2
C: LCS 1
6 May 1965 CC Titan-3A  
5, 3C-7 65047 Transtage 5 18 Jun 1965 CC Titan-3C  
6, 3C-4 65082 OV 2-1 15 Oct 1965 CC Titan-3C Failure
7, 3C-8 65108 A: OV 2-3
B: LES 4
C: Oscar 04
D: LES 3
21 Dec 1965 CC Titan-3C  
8, 3C-11 66053 IDCSP 1 to 7
GGTS 1 (OPS 9381)
16 Jun 1966 CC Titan-3C  
9, 3B-1 66069 KH-8 1 (OPS 3014) 29 Jul 1966 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
10, 3C-12 n/a IDCSP (8) ... IDCSP (14) / GGTS 2 26 Aug 1966 CC Titan-3C Failure
11, 3B-2 66086 KH-8 2 (OPS 4096) 28 Sep 1966 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
12, 3C-9 66099 B: OV-4 1R
C: OV-1 6
D: OV-4 1T
OV-4 3
Gemini B
3 Nov 1966 CC Titan-3C Gemini B was on a suborbital orbit
13, 3B-3 66113 KH-8 3 (OPS 8968) 14 Dec 1966 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
14, 3C-13 67003 IDCSP 8 to 15 18 Jan 1967 CC Titan-3C  
15, 3B-4 ? KH-8 4 24 Mar 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
16, 3B-5 n/a KH-8 5 26 Apr 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D Failure
17, 3C-10 67040 A: Vela 7
B: Vela 8
C: ERS 18
D: OV-5 3 (ERS 20)
E: OV-5 1 (ERS 27)
28 Apr 1967 CC Titan-3C  
18, 3B-8 67064 KH-8 6 (OPS 4282) 20 Jun 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
19, 3C-14 67066 IDCSP 16 to 19
E: LES 5
F: Dodge
1 Jul 1967 CC Titan-3C  
20, 3B-9 67079 KH-8 7 16 Aug 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
21, 3B-10 67090 KH-8 8 19 Sep 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
22, 3B-11   KH-8 9 25 Oct 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
23, 3B-12   KH-8 10 5 Dec 1967 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
24, 3B-13   KH-8 11 18 Jan 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
25, 3B-14   KH-8 12 13 Mar 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
26, 3B-15   KH-8 13 17 Apr 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
27, 3B-16   KH-8 14 5 Jun 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
28, 3C-16 68050 IDCSP 19 to 26 13 Jun 1968 CC Titan-3C  
29, 3B-17   KH-8 15 6 Aug 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
30, 3B-18   KH-8 16 10 Sep 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
31, 3C-5 68081 A: OV 2-5
B: OV-5 2
C: OV-5 4
D: LES 6
26 Sep 1968 CC Titan-3C  
32, 3B-19   KH-8 17 6 Nov 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
33, 3B-20   KH-8 18 4 Dec 1968 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
34, 3B-6   KH-8 19 22 Jan 1969 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
35, 3C-17 69013 Tacsat 9 Feb 1969 CC Titan-3C  
36, 3B-7   KH-8 20 4 Mar 1969 Va Titan-3B Agena-D  
37, 3B-21   KH-8 21 15 Apr 1969 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
38, 3C-15 69046 A: OV-5 5
B: OV-5 6
C: OV-5 9
D: Vela 9
E: Vela 10
23 May 1969 CC Titan-3C  
39, 3B-22   KH-8 22 3 Jun 1969 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
40, 3B-23   KH-8 23 22 Aug 1969 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
41, 3B-24   KH-8 24 24 Oct 1969 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
42, 3B-25   KH-8 25 14 Jan 1970 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
43, 3C-18 70027 A: Vela 11
B: Vela 12
8 Apr 1970 CC Titan-3C  
44, 3B-26   KH-8 26 15 Apr 1970 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
45, 3B-27   KH-8 27 25 Jun 1970 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
46, 3B-28   KH-8 28 18 Aug 1970 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
47, 3B-29   KH-8 29 23 Oct 1970 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
48, 3C-19 70093 DSP 1 6 Nov 1970 CC Titan-3(23)C Partial failure
49, 3B-30   KH-8 30 21 Jan 1971 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
50, 3B-36 71021 Jumpseat 1 21 Mar 1971 Va Titan-3(33)B Agena-D  
51, 3B-31   KH-8 31 22 Apr 1971 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
52, 3C-20 71039 DSP 2 5 May 1971 CC Titan-3(23)C  
53, 3D-1   KH-9 1 15 Jun 1971 Va Titan-3D  
54, 3B-32   KH-8 32 12 Aug 1971 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
55, 3B-33   KH-8 33 23 Oct 1971 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
56, 3C-21 71095 A: DSCS 2-01
B: DSCS-2 02
3 Nov 1971 CC Titan-3(23)C  
57, 3D-2   KH-9 2 / Subsat Ferret 28 20 Jan 1972 Va Titan-3D  
58, 3B-37 n/a Jumpseat 2 16 Feb 1972 Va Titan-3(33)B Agena-D Failure
59, 3C-22   DSP 3 1 Mar 1972 CC Titan-3(23)C  
60, 3B-34   KH-8 34 17 Mar 1972 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
61, 3B-35   KH-8 35 20 May 1972 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ? Failure
62, 3D-5   KH-9 3 / Subsat Ferret 29 7 Jul 1972 Va Titan-3D  
63, 3B-39   KH-8 36 1 Sep 1972 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
64, 3D-3   KH-9 4 / Subsat Ferret 30 10 Oct 1972 Va Titan-3D  
65, 3B-40   KH-8 37 21 Dec 1972 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
66, 3D-6   KH-9 5 9 Mar 1973 Va Titan-3D  
67, 3B-41   KH-8 38 16 May 1973 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
68, 3C-24   DSP 4 12 Jun 1973 CC Titan-3(23)C  
69, 3B-43   KH-8 39 26 Jun 1973 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ? Failure
70, 3D-7   KH-9 6 13 Jul 1973 Va Titan-3D  
71, 3B-38   Jumpseat 3 21 Aug 1973 Va Titan-3(33)B Agena-D  
72, 3B-42   KH-8 40 27 Sep 1973 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
73, 3D-8   KH-9 7 / Subsat Ferret 31 / Subsat Ferret 32 10 Nov 1973 Va Titan-3D  
74, 3C-26 73100 A: DSCS 2-03
B: DSCS 2-04
13 Dec 1973 CC Titan-3(23)C  
75, 3E-1/ TC-1 n/a Sphinx / Viking SD 12 Feb 1974 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T F
76, 3B-44   KH-8 41 13 Feb 1974 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
77, 3D-9   KH-9 8 / Subsat Ferret 33 / P73 7 10 Apr 1974 Va Titan-3D  
78, 3C-27 74039 ATS 6 30 May 1974 CC Titan-3(23)C  
79, 3B-45   KH-8 42 6 Jun 1974 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
80, 3B-46   KH-8 43 14 Aug 1974 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
81, 3D-4   KH-9 9 / Subsat Ferret 34 / P73 5 29 Oct 1974 Va Titan-3D  
82, 3E-2/ TC-2 74097 Helios 1 10 Dec 1974 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T St-37E  
83, 3B-50   Jumpseat 4 10 Mar 1975 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
84, 3B-48   KH-8 44 18 Apr 1975 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
85, 3C-25 75040 A: DSCS 2-05
B: DSCS 2-06
20 May 1975 CC Titan-3(23)C Partial failure
86, 3D-10   KH-9 10 / Subsat Ferret 35 8 Jun 1975 Va Titan-3D  
87, 3E-4/ TC-4 75075 Viking 1 20 Aug 1975 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T  
88, 3E-3/ TC-3 75083 Viking 2 9 Sep 1975 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T  
89, 3B-47   KH-8 45 9 Oct 1975 Va Titan-3B Agena-D ?  
90, 3D-13   KH-9 11 / Subsat Ferret 36 4 Dec 1975 Va Titan-3D  
91, 3C-29   DSP 5 14 Dec 1975 CC Titan-3(23)C  
92, 3E-5/ TC-5 76003 Helios 2 15 Jan 1976 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T St-37E  
93, 3C-30 76023 A: LES 8
B: LES 9
C: Solrad 11A
D: Solrad 11B
15 Mar 1976 CC Titan-3(23)C  
94, 3B-52   KH-8 46 22 Mar 1976 Va Titan-3(23)B Agena-D  
95, 3B-55   SDS 1 2 Jun 1976 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
96, 3C-28   DSP 6 26 Jun 1976 CC Titan-3(23)C  
97, 3D-14   KH-9 12 / Subsat Ferret 37 / P74 2 8 Jul 1976 Va Titan-3D  
98, 3B-56   SDS 2 6 Aug 1976 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
99, 3B-51   KH-8 47 15 Sep 1976 Va Titan-3(24)B Agena-D  
100, 3D-15   KH-9 13 /Subsat Ferret 38 /Subsat Ferret 39 19 Dec 1976 Va Titan-3D  
101, 3C-23   DSP 7 6 Feb 1977 CC Titan-3(23)C  
102, 3B-54   KH-8 48 13 Mar 1977 Va Titan-3(23)B Agena-D  
103, 3C-32 77034 A: DSCS 2-07
B: DSCS 2-08
12 May 1977 CC Titan-3(23)C  
104, 3D-17   KH-9 14 27 Jun 1977 Va Titan-3D  
105, 3E-7/ TC-7   Voyager 2 [Star-37E] 20 Aug 1977 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T  
106, 3E-6/ TC-6   Voyager 1 [Star-37E] 5 Sep 1977 CC Titan-3E Centaur-D1T  
107, 3B-58   KH-8 49 23 Sep 1977 Va Titan-3(23)B Agena-D  
108, 3B-49   Jumpseat 5 25 Feb 1978 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
109, 3D-20   KH-9 15 / Subsat Ferret 40 16 Mar 1978 Va Titan-3D  
110, 3C-35 n/a DSCS-2 9 / DSCS-2 10 25 Mar 1978 CC Titan-3(23)C Failure
111, 3C-33 78058 Vortex 1 10 Jun 1978 CC Titan-3(23)C  
112, 3D-18   KH-11 1 14 Jun 1978 Va Titan-3D  
113, 3B-57   SDS 3 5 Aug 1978 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
114, 3C-36 78113 A: DSCS 2-11
B: DSCS 2-12
14 Dec 1978 CC Titan-3(23)C  
115, 3D-21   KH-11 2 / Subsat Ferret 41 16 Mar 1979 Va Titan-3D  
116, 3B-61   KH-8 50 28 May 1979 Va Titan-3(24)B Agena-D  
117, 3C-31   DSP 8 10 Jun 1979 CC Titan-3(23)C  
118, 3C-34 79086 Vortex 2 1 Oct 1979 CC Titan-3(23)C  
119, 3C-37 79098 A: DSCS 2-13
B: DSCS 2-14
21 Nov 1979 CC Titan-3(23)C  
120, 3D-19   KH-11 3 7 Feb 1980 Va Titan-3D  
121, 3D-16   KH-9 16 / Subsat Ferret 42 18 Jun 1980 Va Titan-3D  
122, 3B-53   Jumpseat 6 13 Dec 1980 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
123, 3B-59   KH-8 51 28 Feb 1981 Va Titan-3(24)B Agena-D  
124, 3C-40   DSP 9 16 Mar 1981 CC Titan-3(23)C  
125, 3B-60   SDS 4 24 Apr 1981 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D Partial failure
126, 3D-22   KH-11 4 3 Sep 1981 Va Titan-3D  
127, 3C-39 81107 Vortex 3 31 Oct 1981 CC Titan-3(23)C  
128, 3B-62   Indigo Test + 4 Subsat 21 Jan 1982 Va Titan-3(23)B Agena-D  
129, 3C-38   DSP 10 6 Mar 1982 CC Titan-3(23)C  
130, 3D-24   KH-9 17 / Subsat Ferret 43 11 May 1982 Va Titan-3D  
131, 34D-1 82106 A: DSCS 2-15
B: DSCS 3-01
30 Oct 1982 CC Titan-34D IUS  
132, 3D-23   KH-11 5 17 Nov 1982 Va Titan-3D  
133, 3B-63   KH-8 52 15 Apr 1983 Va Titan-3(24)B Agena-D  
134, 34D-5   KH-9 18 / Subsat Ferret 44 20 Jun 1983 Va Titan-34D  
135, 3B-65   Jumpseat 7 31 Jul 1983 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
136, 34D-10 84009 Vortex 4 31 Jan 1984 CC Titan-34D Transtage  
137, 34D-11   DSP 11 15 Apr 1984 CC Titan-34D Transtage  
138, 3B-67   KH-8 53 17 Apr 1984 Va Titan-3(24)B Agena-D  
139, 34D-4   KH-9 19 25 Jun 1984 Va Titan-34D  
140, 3B-64   SDS 5 28 Aug 1984 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
141, 34D-6   KH-11 6 4 Dec 1984 Va Titan-34D  
142, 34D-13 84129 DSP F12 22 Dec 1984 CC Titan-34D Transtage  
143, 3B-69   SDS 6 8 Feb 1985 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
144, 34D-7   KH-11 7 28 Aug 1985 Va Titan-34D Failure
145, 34D-9   KH-9 20 18 Apr 1986 Va Titan-34D Failure, 1st stage
146, 3B-66   SDS 7 12 Feb 1987 Va Titan-3(34)B Agena-D  
147, 34D-15   KH-11 8 26 Oct 1987 Va Titan-34D  
148, 34D-8 87097 DSP F13 29 Nov 1987 CC Titan-34D Transtage  
149, 34D-3 88077 Vortex 5 2 Sep 1988 CC Titan-34D Transtage Failure
150, 34D-14 88099 KH-11 9 6 Nov 1988 Va Titan-34D  
151, 34D-16 89035 Vortex 6 10 May 1989 CC Titan-34D Transtage  
152, 34D-2 89069 A: DSCS 2-16
B: DSCS 3-04
4 Sep 1989 CC Titan-34D Transtage  
153, CT-1 90001 A: Skynet 4A
B: JCSat 2
1 Jan 1990 CC Commercial-Titan-3 Skynet 4A: PAM-D2
JCSat 2: Orbus-7S
154, CT-2 90021 Intelsat 603 14 Mar 1990 CC Commercial-Titan-3 Partial failure
[Orbus-21S]
155, CT-3 90056 Intelsat 604 23 Jun 1990 CC Commercial-Titan-3 [Orbus-21S]
156, CT-4 92063 Mars Observer 25 Sep 1992 CC Commercial-Titan-3 [TOS-21H]


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