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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle,sci.space
Subject: Re: Another (quick) satellite launch capability
Message-ID: <7255@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 25-Oct-86 21:07:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: utzoo.7255
Posted: Sat Oct 25 21:07:35 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Oct-86 21:07:35 EDT
References: <338@alliant.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 49

> ... what about the (remaining)
> Titan II missiles used by the USAF as ICBMS in silos in Arkansas?
> They are being decommissioned...

As I recall, the USAF is way ahead of you, and already plans to use some
of them for satellite launches.

> o	The missiles take 1/2 hour to fuel, so their military usefulness
> 	is limited at best (first strike, anyone?)

Can you cite a reference for this?  The Titan II, unlike the long-gone
Titan I, uses room-temperature propellants specifically so that it can sit
in the silo fully fuelled.

> o	They don't have to be moved; just remove the warhead bus and
> 	replace with a satellite & shroud & ...

No, they do have to be moved.  Missile silos are sited without much concern
for range safety; if those things are going up, nobody is going to be too
worried about where the spent stages will land, or where the rocket might
go if something fails.  That isn't acceptable for peacetime space launches.

> o	Are they reliable enough to use as satellite launchers?

Should be.  The Titan launchers are only modest variants of the ICBMs.
One early variant was used for the Gemini manned missions.

> o	Would the Soviets be nervious if they saw a (single)
> 	launch of a Titan II into circum-polar orbit? [i.e.,
> 	would they think it's a pin-down strike?]

This is another reason why it's smart to launch from an existing launch site
on well-known launch paths, rather than straight from silos.  Early-warning
radars aren't necessarily capable of counting the missiles or precisely
identifying where they are headed.

> o	Cargo weight of a Titan II to LEO? to GSO?

Into LEO, comparable to a Gemini spacecraft, since it's the same rocket.
Clarke orbit, maybe not a lot.

> o	Time to build a housing for a satellite for the Titan II?

Probably not too hard, since there are payload shrouds already in use for
the assorted Titan space-booster variants.  Martin Marietta's commercial
Titan will probably use essentially stock Ariane shrouds.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry