Taurus II
Encyclopedia
Taurus II is an expendable launch system
being developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation
. It is a two stage vehicle designed to launch payloads weighing up to 7000 kg (15,432.4 lb) into low-Earth orbit. It is scheduled to make its first flight in the first quarter of 2012.
NASA
awarded to Orbital a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
(COTS) contract to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station
. For these COTS missions Orbital intends to use Taurus II to launch its Cygnus spacecraft
. In addition, Taurus II will compete for small-to-medium missions.
On 10 June 2008 it was announced that the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
, part of the Wallops Flight Facility
in Virginia
, would be the primary launch site for the rocket. Launch pad 0A, which is the former launch pad for the failed Conestoga rocket
will be modified to handle the Taurus II. A launch from Wallops would reach the International Space Station's orbit as effectively as from Cape Canaveral
, Florida, while being less crowded. It is currently planned for the first Cygnus flight to be an unloaded demonstration; the first Cygnus flight may or may not be the first Taurus flight, pending additional bookings.
On December 10, 2009 Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) test fired their Castor 30 motor for use as the second stage of the Taurus II rocket. In March 2010 Orbital Sciences and Aerojet
completed test firings of the NK-33
engines.
uses RP-1
(kerosene) and liquid oxygen
(LOX) as propellants, powering two NK-33
-derived engines (sold by Aerojet
as AJ-26 engines). As Orbital has little experience with large liquid stages and LOX propellant, some of the Taurus II first stage work was contracted to Yuzhnoye SDO
, designers of the Zenit
series. One source claims that includes "main-stage fuel tanks and associated plumbing". The core provided by Yuzhnoye includes propellant tanks, pressurization tanks, valves, sensors, feed lines, tubing, wiring and other associated hardware. Like Zenit, the Taurus II vehicle will have a 3.9 m (153.5 in) diameter.
The second stage is a solid, the Castor
30, to be developed by ATK
as a derivative of the Castor 120 solid stage. An enhanced second stage is currently being studied by Orbital sciences to lift heavier payloads. Propelled by methane
and LOX, it will be powered by a Pratt & Whitney PWR35M rocket engine and will allow the Taurus II to deliver up to 7,600 kg to LEO. The third stage is a hypergolic stage, to be developed by Orbital as a derivative of prior missions. The hardware will be derived from onboard thruster systems of the OSC Star 2 bus
; other elements will use knowledge from the DART mission, of which OSC was the prime contractor. Exact parameters may change as the vehicle develops.
This hypergolic propulsion system is planned to form the basis of the Cygnus spacecraft
. The equipment section will likely be topped by a smaller development of the MPLM for pressurized cargo, and possibly a derivative of the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier
for unpressurized cargo. Initial production of pressurized modules will take place in Italy. No reentry and return capabilities are planned so far, but as with the rest of the project, details are still subject to change.
Expendable launch system
An expendable launch system is a launch system that uses an expendable launch vehicle to carry a payload into space. The vehicles used in expendable launch systems are designed to be used only once , and their components are not recovered for re-use after launch...
being developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
. It is a two stage vehicle designed to launch payloads weighing up to 7000 kg (15,432.4 lb) into low-Earth orbit. It is scheduled to make its first flight in the first quarter of 2012.
NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
awarded to Orbital a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services is a NASA program to coordinate the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18, 2006...
(COTS) contract to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. For these COTS missions Orbital intends to use Taurus II to launch its Cygnus spacecraft
Cygnus spacecraft
The Cygnus spacecraft is an unmanned resupply spacecraft being developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Thales Alenia Space as part of NASA's COTS project. It is designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle...
. In addition, Taurus II will compete for small-to-medium missions.
Development
The NASA COTS award was for US$171 million; Orbital Sciences expects to invest $150 million in addition, split between $130 million for the booster and $20 million for the spacecraft.On 10 June 2008 it was announced that the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.-Background:...
, part of the Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Flight Facility , located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other U.S. government agencies...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, would be the primary launch site for the rocket. Launch pad 0A, which is the former launch pad for the failed Conestoga rocket
Conestoga (rocket)
The Conestoga was a rocket consisting originally of surplus Minuteman missile stages with additional strap-on boosters, as required, for larger payloads. It was the world's first privately-funded commercial rocket, but was used only three times before the program was shut down due to a lack of...
will be modified to handle the Taurus II. A launch from Wallops would reach the International Space Station's orbit as effectively as from Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
, Florida, while being less crowded. It is currently planned for the first Cygnus flight to be an unloaded demonstration; the first Cygnus flight may or may not be the first Taurus flight, pending additional bookings.
On December 10, 2009 Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) test fired their Castor 30 motor for use as the second stage of the Taurus II rocket. In March 2010 Orbital Sciences and Aerojet
Aerojet
Aerojet is an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange, Gainesville and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet is owned by GenCorp. They are the only US propulsion company that provides both solid rocket...
completed test firings of the NK-33
NK-33
The NK-33 and NK-43 are rocket engines designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. They were intended for the ill-fated Soviet N-1 rocket moon shot. The NK-33 engine achieves the highest thrust-to-weight ratio of any Earth-launchable rocket engine, whilst...
engines.
Layout
The first stageMultistage rocket
A multistage rocket is a rocket that usestwo or more stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or...
uses RP-1
RP-1
RP-1 is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as a rocket fuel. Although having a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen , RP-1 is cheaper, can be stored at room temperature, is far less of an explosive hazard and is far denser...
(kerosene) and liquid oxygen
Liquid oxygen
Liquid oxygen — abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries — is one of the physical forms of elemental oxygen.-Physical properties:...
(LOX) as propellants, powering two NK-33
NK-33
The NK-33 and NK-43 are rocket engines designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. They were intended for the ill-fated Soviet N-1 rocket moon shot. The NK-33 engine achieves the highest thrust-to-weight ratio of any Earth-launchable rocket engine, whilst...
-derived engines (sold by Aerojet
Aerojet
Aerojet is an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange, Gainesville and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet is owned by GenCorp. They are the only US propulsion company that provides both solid rocket...
as AJ-26 engines). As Orbital has little experience with large liquid stages and LOX propellant, some of the Taurus II first stage work was contracted to Yuzhnoye SDO
Yuzhnoye Design Bureau
Yuzhnoye Design Bureau , located in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, is a designer of satellites and rockets, and formerly of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles established by Mikhail Yangel. Yuzhnoye's OKB designation was OKB-586....
, designers of the Zenit
Zenit rocket
Zenit is a family of space launch vehicles designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine. Zenit was built in the 1980s for two purposes: as a liquid rocket booster for the Energia rocket and, equipped with a second stage, as a stand-alone rocket...
series. One source claims that includes "main-stage fuel tanks and associated plumbing". The core provided by Yuzhnoye includes propellant tanks, pressurization tanks, valves, sensors, feed lines, tubing, wiring and other associated hardware. Like Zenit, the Taurus II vehicle will have a 3.9 m (153.5 in) diameter.
The second stage is a solid, the Castor
Castor (rocket stage)
The Castor family of solid-fuel rocket stages and boosters were built by Thiokol and used on a variety of launch vehicles. They were initially developed as the second stage motor of the Scout rocket...
30, to be developed by ATK
Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Techsystems Inc., most commonly known by its ticker symbol, ', is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the United States with more than 18,000 employees in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally, and 2010 revenues in excess of an estimated...
as a derivative of the Castor 120 solid stage. An enhanced second stage is currently being studied by Orbital sciences to lift heavier payloads. Propelled by methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
and LOX, it will be powered by a Pratt & Whitney PWR35M rocket engine and will allow the Taurus II to deliver up to 7,600 kg to LEO. The third stage is a hypergolic stage, to be developed by Orbital as a derivative of prior missions. The hardware will be derived from onboard thruster systems of the OSC Star 2 bus
STAR Bus
STAR Bus is a satellite platform manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation with an apogee kick motor to place a communications satellite into geostationary orbit, a thruster to provide the satellite with orbital station-keeping for a 15 year mission, and solar arrays to provide the satellite...
; other elements will use knowledge from the DART mission, of which OSC was the prime contractor. Exact parameters may change as the vehicle develops.
This hypergolic propulsion system is planned to form the basis of the Cygnus spacecraft
Cygnus spacecraft
The Cygnus spacecraft is an unmanned resupply spacecraft being developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Thales Alenia Space as part of NASA's COTS project. It is designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle...
. The equipment section will likely be topped by a smaller development of the MPLM for pressurized cargo, and possibly a derivative of the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier
EXPRESS Logistics Carrier
An ExPRESS logistics carrier is an unpressurized attached payload platform for the International Space Station that provides mechanical mounting surfaces, electrical power, and command and data handling services for Orbital Replacement Units as well as science experiments on the ISS...
for unpressurized cargo. Initial production of pressurized modules will take place in Italy. No reentry and return capabilities are planned so far, but as with the rest of the project, details are still subject to change.
See also
- Commercial Orbital Transportation ServicesCommercial Orbital Transportation ServicesCommercial Orbital Transportation Services is a NASA program to coordinate the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18, 2006...
- Cygnus spacecraftCygnus spacecraftThe Cygnus spacecraft is an unmanned resupply spacecraft being developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Thales Alenia Space as part of NASA's COTS project. It is designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle...
- NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
- Orbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
- Taurus rocketTaurus rocketTaurus is a four stage, solid fuel launch vehicle built in the United States by Orbital Sciences Corporation. It is based on the air-launched Pegasus rocket from the same manufacturer. The Taurus rocket is able to carry a payload of around 1,350 kg into a low Earth orbit. First launched in 1994,...