Titan IIIE
Launch of a Titan IIIE with Voyager 2 | |
| Function | Expendable launch system |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Martin Marietta Convair Aerospace Division of General Dynamics (prime contractor for the third stage Centaur D-1T) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Size | |
| Height | 48.8 meters (160 ft): 142 |
| Diameter | 3.05 meters (10.0 ft): 142 |
| Mass | 632,970 kilograms (1,395,460 lb) |
| Stages | 3 with an option for 4 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to Low Earth orbit | |
| Mass | 15,400 kilograms (34,000 lb) |
| Payload to Heliocentric orbit (TMI) | |
| Mass | 3,700 kilograms (8,200 lb) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Titan |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | Launch Complex 41 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral, Florida |
| Total launches | 7 |
| Success(es) | 6 |
| Failure(s) | 1 |
| First flight | February 11, 1974 |
| Last flight | September 5, 1977 |
| Carries passengers or cargo | Voyager (1 / 2) Viking (1 / 2) Helios (A / B) |
| Zero stage – Solid Rocket Boosters | |
| Powered by | UA1205 Chemical Systems Division of United Technologies: 142 (two, five-segment, strap-on boosters) |
| Maximum thrust | 5,339 kilonewtons (1,200,000 lbf) (each booster): 2–1 |
| Specific impulse | 266 sec: 2–1 |
| Burn time | 117 seconds: 1–2 |
| First stage – Core First Stage | |
| Powered by | LR87-11 (two) Aerojet: 142 |
| Maximum thrust | 2,313 kilonewtons (520,000 lbf): 2–1 or 2,091 kilonewtons (470,000 lbf): 142 |
| Specific impulse | 301.1 sec: 2–1 |
| Burn time | 146 seconds: 1–2 |
| Propellant | N2O4 / Aerozine 50: 2–1 |
| Second stage – Core Second Stage | |
| Powered by | LR91-11 (one)) Aerojet: 142 |
| Maximum thrust | 449 kilonewtons (101,000 lbf): 2–1 or 444.8 kilonewtons (100,000 lbf): 142 |
| Specific impulse | 318.7 sec: 2–1 |
| Burn time | 210 seconds: 1–3 |
| Propellant | N2O4 / Aerozine 50: 2–1 |
| Third stage – Centaur D-1T | |
| Powered by | RL10A-3 (two) Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation: 1–6 |
| Maximum thrust | 66.7 kilonewtons (15,000 lbf) (each engine): 142 |
| Specific impulse | 444 sec |
| Burn time | 470 seconds |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX: 1–4 |
| Fourth stage – Star 37E | |
| Powered by | 1 solid Thiokol |
| Maximum thrust | 68 kilonewtons (15,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 283.6 sec |
| Burn time | 42 seconds |
| Propellant | Solid |
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, 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.