Titan 34D

UA1206 (2)
Titan 3B-1
Titan 3B-2
Inertial Upper Stage
Transtage

Capacity Payload to LEOMass14,515 kg (32,000 lb)Payload to GTOMass5,000 kg (11,000 lb) Associated rocketsFamilyTitanLaunch historyStatusRetiredLaunch sitesLC-40, CCAFS
SLC-4E, VAFBTotal launches15Success(es)12Failure(s)3First flight30 October 1982Last flight4 September 19890 stage – UA1206Height27.56 m (90.4 ft)Diameter3.05 m (10.0 ft)Empty mass40,827 kg (90,008 lb)Gross mass251,427 kg (554,302 lb)Maximum thrust6,227 kN (1,400,000 lb_f)Specific impulse265 sBurn time114 sPropellantSolid (Polybutadiene acrylonitrile)First stage – Titan IIIB-1Height23.99 m (78.7 ft)Diameter3.05 m (10.0 ft)Empty mass7,000 kg (15,400 lb)Gross mass139,935 kg (308,504 lb)Powered by2× LR-87-11Maximum thrust2,413.191 kN (542,507 lb_f)Specific impulse302 sBurn time161 sPropellantN₂O₄ / Aerozine 50Second stage – Titan IIIB-2Height8.60 m (28.2 ft)Diameter3.05 m (10.0 ft)Empty mass2,900 kg (6,400 lb)Gross mass37,560 kg (82,810 lb)Powered byLR-91-11Maximum thrust460.314 kN (103,483 lb_f)Specific impulse316 sBurn time230 sPropellantN₂O₄ / Aerozine 50

[edit on Wikidata]

The Titan 34D was a United States expendable launch vehicle used to launch a number of satellites for military applications.

Service history

Derived from the Titan III, the Titan 34D featured Stage 1 and Stage 2 stretched with more powerful UA1206 solid motors. A variety of upper stages were available, including the Inertial Upper Stage, the Transfer Orbit Stage, and the Transtage.^[1] The Titan 34D made its maiden flight in the year of 1982 on the 30th of October with two DSCS defense communications satellites for the United States Department of Defense (DOD).

All of the launches were conducted from either LC-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or SLC-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Overall, fifteen launches were carried out, of which three failed.

1985 failure, Titan 34D-7

The first failure was the launch of a KH-11 photoreconnaissance satellite in the year 1985 on the 28th of August. The core stage suffered a propulsion system malfunction and was destroyed by Range Safety. The flight proceeded normally until the core engine starts at T+108 seconds. At T+112 seconds, an abnormal start transient occurred and Engine 2 began experiencing thrust decay. At T+212 seconds, Engine 1 shut down, causing a loss of attitude control. The onboard computer shut off Engine 2 at T+256 seconds and began a premature separation and ignition of Stage 2. With the Titan now tumbling and headed back towards land, the destruct command was issued at T+272 seconds and the KH-11 crashed into the Pacific Ocean. During Stage 1's powered flight, the oxidizer tank began leaking N₂O₄ which was thought to have resulted in the loss of lubrication to the Engine 1 turbopump and breakdown of the pinion gear. The attempts by the Navy to salvage booster debris from the ocean floor were largely unsuccessful. Investigators also complained that tracking camera coverage during the core stage burn was inadequate.

Titan 34D-7 was the first failed launch of a solid motor-equipped Titan vehicle from Vandenberg (there has been several failures from Cape Canaveral over the years) and was particularly vexing because of inadequate launch data. The Titan III's flawless West Coast launch record meant that the Air Force felt confident enough to remove several telemetry measurements from the boosters in the interest of reduced weight and complexity. There had evidently been leaks from both the fuel and oxidizer tanks, as well as suspicion hinged on clamps that held the propellant feed lines in place. However, the clamps had not failed on any previous launches so it was not clear why they would suddenly fail now. Some members of the investigative board even proposed that the SRBs had suffered an exhaust gas leak which caused damage to the core stage. As evidence, they noted that a piece of cork insulation had broken off one SRB shortly after launch. The official cause of the failure was "Leakage of oxidizer resulting in loss of turbopump lubrication and breakdown of the pinion gear." However, most of the members of the investigative team were unsatisfied with this verdict.

As a result of 34D-7, the Air Force took measures to ensure that a repeat failure would not occur. These included reinstalling some of the deleted telemetry probes on the Titan as well as improved camera coverage; the next launch would even have the aircraft flying overhead to provide additional photography.

1986 failure, Titan 34D-9

Titan 34D-9 was launched 18 April 1986 at Vandenberg AFB. Instead of the advanced KH-11 satellite carried on 34D-7, this booster carried the older model KH-9 in what would be the final launch of that satellite and the final launch of a film capsule photoreconnaissance satellite by the United States. Lifting off at 10:45 AM Pacific Time, the Titan catastrophically exploded just above SLC-4E, showering the launch complex as well as the adjacent SLC-4W (used for Titan IIIB launches) with debris and toxic propellant.^[2]^[3]

The investigation indicated the right solid rocket motor rupturing starting at T+6 seconds with the resulting torque on the launch vehicle caused the left SRM to break away. This triggered its automatic destruct system, blowing Stage 1 to pieces and rupturing Stage 2's N₂O₄ tank. The upper stages were ejected and launched through the air until a manual destruct command was sent by the range safety officer at T+20 seconds. The KH-9 was also blown up by its internal self-destruct mechanism, which was designed to destroy the classified satellite in the event of a launch malfunction. Debris rained onto SLC-4E, badly damaging the launch complex in the process and starting numerous small fires, some of which burned for up to two days. Extracting launch personnel from the blockhouse proved difficult due to the area around the pad being filled with toxic fumes and burning debris. The casing rupture had damaged the Inadvertent Separation Destruct System (ISDS) lanyards and prevented proper destruction of the SRM, which came down largely intact onto a concrete structure near the pad, which was unoccupied at the time of launch.

The disaster drew comparisons to the Challenger shuttle accident three months earlier, which was also the victim of a solid rocket motor malfunction. However, the Titan incident was found to have a different cause, as the O-rings had not burned-through. A small air pocket between the SRM propellant and its metal motor casing allowed hot exhaust gases to burn through the casing and eventually rupture the SRM. The loss of two photoreconnaissance satellites in a row also badly hampered American efforts to acquire intelligence on Soviet activities.

The Air Force, before finding out the true cause of 34D-9's failure, was so puzzled at the loss of two Titan IIIs in a row that it believed for a time that saboteurs had been at work on Vandenberg Air Force Base, and it had base personnel comb the nearby hills for bullet casings.

Due to the classified payload, extensive efforts were made to clean up all remains of the KH-9, whose film reels were ripped apart into hundreds of small pieces and scattered around the pad area. The satellite debris was taken away for burial in an undisclosed location in the State of Nevada.

The investigation found that the manufacturer of the UA1206 motors, Chemical Systems Division of United Technologies had inadequate quality control measures. Due to the Shuttle program, demand for expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) was greatly reduced during the 1980s and manufacturers had been cutting costs, dropping technical personnel, and preparing to phase out ELVs. However, the Challenger disaster created a renewed emphasis on ELVs and would see a considerable expansion of the upcoming Titan IV program, which was originally intended for just ten launches.

The exact reason for the air pocket in the #2 SRM was never satisfactorily determined. While all the rocket segments were at least five years old (since all flight article Titan 34Ds had been manufactured and delivered by 1982 and the production line long since shut down), there had been no similar problems on other SRMs of the same age. Thanks to Titan 34D-9 (and because an SRB malfunction was a possible cause of 34D-7's failure), more stringent measures were put in place. This included the construction of the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) High Energy X-Ray Facility at Cape Canaveral in a crash program lasting 83 days from the start of construction to first tests in which Titan SRM segments were X-rayed to find propellant voids.^[4]

SLC-4E was out of commission until October 1987, after which it was the site of the remaining two Titan 34D launches without incident.

Specification

The Titan 34D had a payload capacity of 14,515 kg (32,000 lb) to low Earth orbit, and of 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) to a GTO.^[1]

Use with Vortex satellites

Three Vortex satellites were launched using Titan 34D vehicles between 1984 and 1989.

Date	Spacecraft	NSSDC ID	Comments
31 January 1984	OPS 0441	1984-009A	also called Vortex 4
2 September 1988	USA 31	1988-077A	also called Vortex 5
10 May 1989	USA 37	1989-035A	also called Vortex 6

Launch history

Date/time (GMT)	Launch site	S/N	Upper stage	Payload	Outcome	Remarks
30 October 1982 04:05	CCAFS LC-40	34D-1	IUS	DSCS-II-15 (OPS-9445) DSCS-III-A1	Success
20 June 1983 18:45	VAFB LC-4E	34D-5	N/A	OPS-0721 (KH-9)	Success
31 January 1984 03:08	CCAFS LC-40	34D-10	Transtage	OPS-0441 (Vortex)	Success
14 April 1984 16:52	CCAFS LC-40	34D-11	Transtage	DSP-11 (OPS-7641)	Success
25 June 1984 18:47	VAFB LC-4E	34D-4	N/A	USA-2 (KH-9)	Success
4 December 1984 18:03	VAFB LC-4E	34D-6	N/A	USA-6 (KH-11)	Success
22 December 1984 00:02	CCAFS LC-40	34D-13	Transtage	DSP-12 (USA-7)	Success
28 August 1985 21:20	VAFB LC-4E	34D-7	N/A	KH-11	Failure	First stage propellant leak caused engine to shut down.
18 April 1986 18:45	VAFB LC-4E	34D-9	N/A	KH-9	Failure	Solid rocket motor exploded at T+8 seconds due to booster segment joint failure.
26 October 1987 21:32	VAFB LC-4E	34D-15	N/A	USA-27 (KH-11)	Success
29 November 1987 03:27	CCAFS LC-40	34D-8	Transtage	DSP-13 (USA-28)	Success
2 September 1988 12:05	CCAFS LC-40	34D-3	Transtage	USA-31 (Vortex)	Partial failure	Transtage 3rd burn shut down early.
6 November 1988 18:03	VAFB LC-4E	34D-14	N/A	USA-33 (KH-11)	Success
10 May 1989 19:47	CCAFS LC-40	34D-16	Transtage	USA-37 (Vortex)	Success
4 September 1989 05:54	CCAFS LC-40	34D-2	Transtage	DSCS-II-16 (USA-43) DSCS-III-A2 (USA-44)	Success

References

^ ^a ^b "Titan 34D". Astronautix.com. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
^ Day, Dwayne A. (15 December 2008). "Death of a monster". The Space Review.
^ Isachar, Hanan. "The Titan 34D rocket explosion at Vanderberg Air Force Base, CA". Hanan Isachar Photography.
^ "Military Space Operations" (PDF). Air Force Space Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.

Titan rockets

Main articles

Titan family
SM-68 Titan
Launches

Rockets

Missiles	HGM-25A Titan I LGM-25C Titan II
Launch Systems	Titan II GLV Titan IIIA Titan IIIB Titan IIIC Titan IIID Titan IIIE Titan 34D Titan 23G Commercial Titan III Titan IV
Unbuilt	Ares Titan-Vanguard Titan-C Titan IIB Titan IIL Titan IIS Soltan Titan IIIL Titan IIIM Titan V

Launch sites

Cape Canaveral	LC-15 LC-16 LC-19 LC-20 (S)LC-40 (S)LC-41
Vandenberg	OSTF SLTF LC-395 SLC-4 SLC-6
Bases	Larson Mountain Home Beale Ellsworth Lowry Davis-Monthan McConnell Little Rock

Components

Boosters	UA1205 UA1206 UA1207 SRMU
Upper stages	Agena Centaur IUS Star-37 TOS Transtage
Engines	AJ-10 B-8096 Orbus 6 Orbus 21 LR-87 LR-91 RL10

Manufacturers

Rocket	Martin Lockheed Martin
Engines	Aerojet Pratt & Whitney Thiokol

v t e USAF and USSF space vehicle designations (since 1962)
SLV series	SLV-1 (Scout) SLV-2 (Thor) SLV-3 (Atlas) SLV-4 (Titan II) SLV-5 (Titan)
SB series	SB-1 SB-2 SB-3 SB-4 SB-5 SB-6 SSB-7 SSB-8 SSB-9 SSB-10 ASB-11
Satellites	WS-1 WS-2 LS-3 ES-4 ES-5 LS-6 NS-7 ES-8 LS-9 LS-10 (I) XSS-10 (II) XSS-11² XSS-12 S-13¹ ES-14 LS-15³ LS-16³ ES-17 EWS-G1 EWS-G2
¹ Not assigned ² Unofficial designation ³ Designation believed to be this type but unconfirmed

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica-1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL RS1^† SLS Block 1 Starship Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona Firefly Beta New Glenn Neutron Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage