Taurus Orion
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American sounding rocket. 2 stage vehicle composed of 1 x Taurus (Honest John motor) + 1 x Orion. Payload 68 kg to 260 km or 227 kg to 140 km.
The Taurus-Orion was a two-stage, unguided, fin stabilized rocket system which utilized a Taurus first stage booster and a surplus Army Orion rocket motor for the second stage propulsion. The Taurus motor had four equally spaced modified Ajax fins, and the Orion motor had four fins on the aft end arranged in a cruciform configuration to provide stability. The standard payload for the Taurus-Orion had a principal diameter of 36 cm and utilized various nose cone fineness ratios. The normal payload length varied from about 1.8 to 3.8 m although this was not the maximum envelope. Payloads from 23 to 36 cm in diameter were also flown on the Taurus-Orion.
Standard hardware included a separable clamshell nose cone and an Orion Standard Ignition System. A clamped interstage was available to provide better stability for vehicle configurations with very long payloads. Separation systems could be provided to separate the payload from the motor during ascent.
Related
- Country
- USA
- Launch Sites
- Wallops Island, White Sands, Poker Flat, Fort Churchill, White Sands LC36, Andoya, Kiruna, Arecibo, Sonde Stromfjord, Red Lake, Red Lake CHK, Chilca PLOB
- Stages
- Orion engine, Taurus engine
- Agency
- NASA Wallops
Chronology
66 events
1977 July 19
15:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1977 December 2
Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1978 March 13
04:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Fort Churchill. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.- Extreme ultraviolet airglow Aeronomy mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 204 km (126 mi).
1978 March 13
07:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Fort Churchill. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1979 February 26
Launch Site: Red Lake. Launch Complex: Red Lake CHK. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1979 February 26
Launch Site: Red Lake. Launch Complex: Red Lake CHK. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1979 November 8
Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: White Sands LC36. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 July 28
19:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 August 14
02:02 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: White Sands LC36. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 September 15
Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: White Sands LC36. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 October 8
18:39 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: White Sands LC36. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 November 16
03:16 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 November 16
03:49 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 November 16
04:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1980 November 30
23:44 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1981 March 7
08:09 GMT - . Launch Site: Poker Flat. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.1981 March 7
08:09 GMT - . Launch Site: Poker Flat. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Taurus Orion.- Auroral E3 Aeronomy / ionosphere / plasma mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 203 km (126 mi).