Prometheus III
Titan III is an upgrade on the Titan II using more powerful Solid Rocket Boosters and uprated liquid fuelled engines. Variants include stretched first and second stage tanks (first proposed for the Titan IIIM core) and a number of different upper stage options. Upper stages in italics are optional ones.
The first variant was in fact the Titan IIIC, combining a Titan II core with a pair of UA1205 SRBs. Titan IIIA was developed as a testbed for the new Transtage, while Titan IIIB employed the Agena D upper stage. Later variants use a range of upper stage options including Centaur D, IUS and TOS.
- The base Titan III core stage is the same as Titan II, using a Prometheus-II-1960 lower tank and Prometheus-II-2480 upper tank. The build guides below refer to this setup as Titan II tanks.
- Later variants use a stretched core with the same Prometheus-II-1960 lower tank but adding a Prometheus-III-3080 on top. The build guides refer to this setup as Titan IIIM tanks.
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The second stage uses the Titan III variant of the Prometheus-II-1160 tank (select it in the Part Action Window).
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A Prometheus-III Avionics Truss should be added on top of the second stage for variants that do not employ the Transtage or the Agena D. A separate 1.875m structural adapter is used for Titan IIIB variants with Agena (23B and 24B).
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Titan III used various generations of LR87 and LR91 engines (AJ5, AJ7, AJ9 and AJ11) but since BDB simplifies engine variants to only the AJ5 and AJ11, the build guides recommend the closest available analogue. The AJ9 is available as an optional config in BDB_Extras where it is added as a b9 subtype to the AJ5 and will be marked in brackets where it should be used if running that patch.
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The first stage engines have multiple part switches. Use the Titan II fairing for single core versions and the Titan III fairing when using solid rocket boosters.
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Correct placement of the SRB separatrons should have both nosecone and radial nozzles point away from the core and in the same direction. The radial nozzles fit just underneath the decoupler infrastructure and may need a gentle nudge with the move tool to get them to sit just right.
Titan IIIA was developed as a test vehicle for the Titan-T Transtage, which then saw operational use on the Titan IIIC. To get an accurate colour scheme, use a slightly smaller decoupler under the Transtage and clip it into the second stage so the lines are unbroken.
| Launch Vehicle | First Stage | Second Stage | Third Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titan IIIA | Titan II tanks; LR-87-5 | LR-91-5 | Transtage |
Titan IIIB is the collective name for Titan derivatives using the Agena D (Belle) upper stage. Titan 23B and 33B use Titan II tanks while 24B and 34B use the stretched tanks developed for Titan IIIM. Titan 23B and 23B use the Titan II 1.875m Structural Adapter beneath the Agena. On Titan 33B and 34B, the Agena is fully enclosed inside a 1.875m fairing.
| Launch Vehicle | First Stage | Second Stage | Third Stage | Fairing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titan IIIB | Titan II tanks; LR-87-5(9) | LR-91-5 | Agena D | 0.9375m |
| Titan 23B | Titan II tanks; LR-87-11 | LR-91-11 | Agena D | 0.9375m |
| Titan 33B | Titan II tanks; LR-87-11 | LR-91-11 | Agena D | 1.875m |
| Titan 24B | Titan IIIM tanks; LR-87-11 | LR-91-11 | Agena D | 0.9375m |
| Titan 34B | Titan IIIM tanks; LR-87-11 | LR-91-11 | Agena D | 1.875m |
Titan 23B
Titan 34B
The Titan IIIC combines the Titan II core with powerful UA1205 (Prometheus-III-5) Solid Rocket Boosters and a Transtage 3rd stage. It was the proposed orbital launch vehicle for the X-20 DynaSoar space plane (model available in the X-20 Moroz mod).
Titan III(23)C is a post-MOL standardisation of the Titan IIIC featuring an air started LR87-11 first stage engine and a modified attitude control configuration on the Transtage.
As the primary use case for Titan III(23)D is to send large payloads into low orbit, it drops the Transtage and has an Avionics Truss fitted above the second stage instead. Both variants use the widened 1.875m fairing base.
| Launch Vehicle | First Stage | Boosters | Second Stage | Third Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titan IIIC | Titan II tanks; LR-87-5(9) | 2x UA1205 | LR-91-5(9) | Transtage |
| Titan 23C | Titan II tanks; LR-87-11 | 2x UA1205 | LR-91-11 | Transtage |
| Titan IIID | Titan II tanks; LR-87-11 | 2x UA1205 | LR-91-11 | None |
Titan IIIC
Titan IIIE features a distinctive 2.6m widened fairing enclosing a bare metal variant of the Centaur, designated as the D-1T (use the standard Centaur D-1) and an optional Star 37 apogee kick motor. An Avionics Truss goes on top of the second stage and below the fairing base. The IIIE performed a number of high profile scientific missions for NASA including the Voyager and Viking probes.
Titan IIIM was the proposed launch vehicle for the MOL military space station. The prototype Titan III-M that flew was based on a Titan 23C but the actual MOL launch vehicle would have used stretched tankage, UA1207 SRBs and either a Transtage or no upper stage, in which case an Avionics Truss should be placed on top of the second stage. It was cancelled before seeing production although its extended core tanks are used on Titan IIIB and the boosters on Titan IV.
Titan 34D features stretched first stage tanks with a pair of UA1206 boosters. It uses an Inertial Upper Stage, the Transtage topped by a 1.875m fairing or no upper stage for low orbit payloads. Variants without the Transtage feature an Avionics Truss on the second stage.
Titan 34D forms the basis of Commercial Titan III (aka CT-3), which has its own 2.5m CT-3 fairing base. It used either no upper stage, the Transfer Orbit Stage or Orbus 6.
| Launch Vehicle | First Stage | Boosters | Second Stage | Third Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titan IIIE | Titan II tanks; LR-87-11 | 2x UA1205 | LR-91-11 | Centaur D-1 + Star 37 |
| Titan IIIM | Titan IIIM tanks; LR-87-11 | 2x UA1207 | LR-91-11 | Transtage |
| Titan 34D | Titan IIIM tanks; LR-87-11 | 2x UA1206 | LR-91-11 | IUS/Transtage |
| Titan CT-3 | Titan IIIM tanks; LR-87-11 | 2x UA1206 | Titan IV-1400 Tank; LR-91-11 | TOS/Orbus6 |
Titan 34D
Titan IIIE & Titan CT-3
Kerbal Koncepts: SRM/CORE-2
Kerbal Koncepts: Titan 3BAS2 is a Titan 33B with a Centaur D-1T upper stage and boosted 2x strap on Algol 2 SRM's.
