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Titan IV Core Vehicle

• Length: Up to 204ft
• Diameter: 10ft
• Gross Mass: 1,900,000lbs
• Propellant Mass: 1,700,000lbs
• Total Burn Time: 531sec
• Thrust at liftoff: 3,200,000 lbs (14 MN)

The Titan IV Core Vehicle is manufactured for the Air Force by Lockheed Martin. The Core assembly is mainly composed of structural, propulsion and avionics subsystems. The structure is made up of two stages (each consisting of fuel and oxidizer tanks) joined by a removable skirt. The forward end of the core structure includes the Forward Oxidizer Skirt, the Forward Skirt Extension and Adapter Skirts which allow interfacing with the various Upper Stage and No Upper Stage (NUS) configurations. The core also provides attachment interfaces for the Solid Rocket Motors (SRMs), propulsion engines and the Payload Fairing (PLF).

AIRFRAME: The Titan IV Core Vehicle is essentially an all-aluminum alloy structure designed to contain propellants and to provide structural support for the two SRMs or Solid Rocket Motor Upgrades (SRMUs), the Payload Fairing (PLF), the payload and upper stage (Centaur or IUS) if any. Provisions are made for core subsystems including liquid engines, avionics, tank pressurization, cabling, and maintenance access. Propellant tanks are of welded construction.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Avionics: Avionics are utilized for a Flight Control System, a Telemetry Tracking and Command System, and Instrumentation System, a Flight Safety System and the Electrical Power Control System. The avionics hardware for the Titan IV core is located on the Instrucmentaion and Guidance Trussses in the Stage II compartment.

Flight Control System: The Flight Control System (FCS) consists of an IGS and a Digitial Flight Control System (DFCS). The DFCS consists of that part of the Missile Guidance Computer (MGC) which functions as an autopilot, the Stage I attitude Rate Sensing System, the SRM Thrust Vector Control (TVC) System, the Stage I Hydraulic Actuation System and the Stage II Hydraulic Actuation System.

The IGS guides Stage 0, I, and II of the Titan IV vehicle on a planned trajectory and controls Stage II final velocity so that the payload and powered vehicle arrives at the desired location in space traveling at the desired velocity.

The FCS software provides a demonstrated flexible launch capability that allows new spacecraft requirements to be changed and compensated for without significant launch delay.

Instrumentation and Telemetry: The Titan IV Core utilizes a Wideband Instrumentation System (WIS) for the purpose of monitoring launch vehicle and payload environments for vibration, acoustic noise and strain measurements. The WIS telemetry signals are transmitted using a dedicated WIS S-Band transmitter and WIS antennas, all located on the Titan IV Stage II.

Tracking and Flight Safety: The Tracking System avionics are mounted in the Titan Stage II guidance truss. This system consists of a C-band pulse beacon transponder, a radio frequency power divider and two antennas. The Titan IV carries a C-band transponder for each of the IUS and NUS flight configurations. The Titan IV/Centaur vehicle carries the flight vehcile C-band transponder on the Centaur Forward Adapter. The Range Safety office monitors the vehicle flight path with the tracking data from the transponder and along with other tracking data will determine whether he should take action to command a zero thrust signal to the flight vehicle Flight Termination System (FTS).