A Transtage
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| Manufacturer | Martin Marietta |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Used on | Titan III |
| General characteristics | |
| Height | 4.57 meters (15.0 ft) |
| Diameter | 3.05 meters (10.0 ft) |
| Gross mass | 12,247 kilograms (27,000 lb) |
| Engine details | |
| Powered by | 2AJ10-138 |
| Maximum thrust | 8,000 lbf (36 kN) each[1] |
| Specific impulse | 311 seconds (3.05 km/s) |
| Burn time | 440 seconds |
| Propellant | Aerozine 50 / N2O4 |
Transtage, given the United States Air Force designation SSB-10A, was an American upper stage used on Titan III rockets, developed by Martin Marietta and Aerojet.
Transtage was developed in anticipation of a requirement to launch military payloads to geostationary orbit; a contract for development of the stage was issued on 20 August 1962.[2] Transtage used a pressure-fed two-chamber configuration, using Aerozine 50 fuel and nitrogen tetroxideasoxidizer; the thrust chambers were gimbaled for steering and each produced 8,000 lbf (36 kN) of thrust.[3] The design specification required up to three restarts during the first six hours of a mission.[4]
Forty-seven Titan III launches are known to have used Transtage upper stages;[5] of those, three are known to have suffered launch failures.[6] The first launch, boosted by a Titan IIIA, occurred on 1 September 1964;[7] the Transtage failed to pressurize, resulting in premature engine cutoff, and a failure to reach orbit.[6] The second launch, on 10 December, was successful, and all ensuing launches used the Titan IIIC launch vehicle. The last launch of a Transtage was on 4 September 1989, boosted by a Titan 34D rocket.[6]
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