Inertial Upper Stage

Inertial Upper Stage
Painting of Ulysses deploying from the Space Shuttle
ManufacturerBoeing
United Technologies
Country of originUnited States
Used onSpace Shuttle
Titan 34D
Titan IV
General characteristics
Height5.2 m (17 ft)[1]
Diameter2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Gross mass14,700 kg (32,400 lb)
Associated stages
DerivativesTOS
Launch history
StatusRetired
Total launches24
Successes
(stage only)
21
Failed2
Lower stage
failed
1
First flight30 October 1982
Last flight14 February 2004[2]
First stage
Height3.15 m (10.3 ft)[3]
Diameter2.34 m (7 ft 8 in)[3]
Gross mass10,400 kg (22,900 lb)[3]
Propellant mass9,700 kg (21,400 lb)[1]
Powered byOrbus-21
Maximum thrust190 kN (43,000 lbf)[1]
Specific impulse295.5 s (2.898 km/s)[3]
Burn timeup to 150 seconds[1]
PropellantSolid
Second stage
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[3]
Diameter1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[3]
Gross mass3,000 kg (6,600 lb)
Propellant mass2,700 kg (6,000 lb)[1]
Powered byOrbus-6
Maximum thrust80 kN (18,000 lbf)[1]
Specific impulse289.1 s (2.835 km/s)[3]
PropellantSolid

The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), originally designated the Interim Upper Stage, was a two-stage, solid-fueled space launch system developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force beginning in 1976[4] for raising payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits or interplanetary trajectories following launch aboard a Titan 34D or Titan IV rocket as its upper stage, or from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle as a space tug.

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Inertial Upper Stage". Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  2. ^ "Inertial Upper Stage". Boeing. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Inertial Upper Stage". Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Boeing launches two satellites". The Bulletin. UPI. 1 November 1982. p. 3. Retrieved 23 February 2014. Boeing won the contract to develop the IUS in 1976...