Delta III was an expendable launch vehicle made by McDonnell Douglas (later acquired by Boeing ). Development was canceled before the vehicle became operational. The vehicle is the third generation of the Delta rocket family , developed from the highly successful Delta II to help meet the launch demand of larger satellites. While the Delta III never had a successful launch, some of the technologies developed were used in its successor, the Delta IV .
52-690: The Delta III was the first to use the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage , which was designed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan based on the second stage it developed for the H-IIA rocket and built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries . Contraves built the fairing and payload adapters based on designs it used on the Ariane 4 . The first Delta III launch was on August 26, 1998. Of its three flights,
104-403: A British rigid airship that first flew in 1916 and the twin 1930s-era U.S. Navy rigid airships USS Akron and USS Macon that were used as airborne aircraft carriers , and a similar form of thrust vectoring is also particularly valuable today for the control of modern non-rigid airships . In this use, most of the load is usually supported by buoyancy and vectored thrust is used to control
156-673: A given aircraft to achieve TVFC can vary from one on a CTOL aircraft to a minimum of four in the case of STOVL aircraft. An example of 2D thrust vectoring is the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine used in the Hawker Siddeley Harrier , as well as in the AV-8B Harrier II variant. Widespread use of thrust vectoring for enhanced maneuverability in Western production-model fighter aircraft didn't occur until
208-554: A low speed, the rocket motor's exhaust has a high enough speed to provide sufficient forces on the mechanical vanes. Thus, thrust vectoring can reduce a missile's minimum range. For example, anti-tank missiles such as the Eryx and the PARS 3 LR use thrust vectoring for this reason. Some other projectiles that use thrust-vectoring: Most currently operational vectored thrust aircraft use turbofans with rotating nozzles or vanes to deflect
260-504: A side-by-side configuration. If such a craft is flown in a way where it enters a vortex ring state , one of the rotors will always enter slightly before the other, causing the aircraft to perform a drastic and unplanned roll. Thrust vectoring is also used as a control mechanism for airships . An early application was the British Army airship Delta , which first flew in 1912. It was later used on HMA (His Majesty's Airship) No. 9r ,
312-715: A truss to the bottom of the hydrogen tank) was around 3 m (9.8 ft) meters in diameter. This stage offered significantly better performance than the Delta II's second stage, the Delta-K , which burned hypergolic propellants. The DCSS was powered by a Pratt & Whitney RL10 B-2 engine, derived from the RL10 powering the Centaur upper stage but featuring electromechanical actuators for gimbal control and an extending nozzle for increased performance. After Delta III's retirement,
364-586: A vertically mounted, low-pressure shaft-driven remote fan, which is driven through a clutch during landing from the engine. Both the exhaust from this fan and the main engine's fan are deflected by thrust vectoring nozzles, to provide the appropriate combination of lift and propulsive thrust. It is not conceived for enhanced maneuverability in combat, only for VTOL operation, and the F-35A and F-35C do not use thrust vectoring at all. The Sukhoi Su-30MKI , produced by India under licence at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ,
416-551: Is achieved by gimbaling the whole engine . This involves moving the entire combustion chamber and outer engine bell as on the Titan II 's twin first-stage motors, or even the entire engine assembly including the related fuel and oxidizer pumps. The Saturn V and the Space Shuttle used gimbaled engines. A later method developed for solid propellant ballistic missiles achieves thrust vectoring by deflecting only
468-401: Is an afterburning supersonic nozzle where nozzle functions are throat area, exit area, pitch vectoring and yaw vectoring. These functions are controlled by four separate actuators. A simpler variant using only three actuators would not have independent exit area control. When TVFC is implemented to complement CAFC, agility and safety of the aircraft are maximized. Increased safety may occur in
520-562: Is generally oriented nearly parallel to the roll axis, roll control usually requires the use of two or more separately hinged nozzles or a separate system altogether, such as fins , or vanes in the exhaust plume of the rocket engine, deflecting the main thrust. Thrust vector control (TVC) is only possible when the propulsion system is creating thrust; separate mechanisms are required for attitude and flight path control during other stages of flight. Thrust vectoring can be achieved by four basic means: Thrust vectoring for many liquid rockets
572-547: Is in active service with the Indian Air Force . The TVC makes the aircraft highly maneuverable, capable of near-zero airspeed at high angles of attack without stalling, and dynamic aerobatics at low speeds. The Su-30MKI is powered by two Al-31FP afterburning turbofans . The TVC nozzles of the MKI are mounted 32 degrees outward to longitudinal engine axis (i.e. in the horizontal plane) and can be deflected ±15 degrees in
SECTION 10
#1732772850839624-481: Is liquid injection, in which the rocket nozzle is fixed, however a fluid is introduced into the exhaust flow from injectors mounted around the aft end of the missile. If the liquid is injected on only one side of the missile, it modifies that side of the exhaust plume, resulting in different thrust on that side thus an asymmetric net force on the missile. This was the control system used on the Minuteman II and
676-411: Is obtained through deflection of the aircraft jets in some or all of the pitch, yaw and roll directions. In the extreme, deflection of the jets in yaw, pitch and roll creates desired forces and moments enabling complete directional control of the aircraft flight path without the implementation of the conventional aerodynamic flight controls (CAFC). TVFC can also be used to hold stationary flight in areas of
728-414: Is referred to as gas-dynamic steering or gas-dynamic control . Nominally, the line of action of the thrust vector of a rocket nozzle passes through the vehicle's centre of mass , generating zero net torque about the mass centre. It is possible to generate pitch and yaw moments by deflecting the main rocket thrust vector so that it does not pass through the mass centre. Because the line of action
780-471: The AIM-9X Sidewinder , eschew flight control surfaces and instead use mechanical vanes to deflect rocket motor exhaust to one side. By using mechanical vanes to deflect the exhaust of the missile's rocket motor, a missile can steer itself even shortly after being launched (when the missile is moving slowly, before it has reached a high speed). This is because even though the missile is moving at
832-457: The Artemis IV mission and beyond. Thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring , also known as thrust vector control ( TVC ), is the ability of an aircraft , rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine (s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle. In rocketry and ballistic missiles that fly outside
884-662: The Discovery Cube Orange County . The Delta IV launch vehicle utilized two distinct versions of the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) to cater to the specific launch needs. These variants are the original DCSS with a 4-meter (13 ft) diameter that is largely identical to the version used on the Delta III and the larger version with a 5-meter (16 ft) diameter used to lift larger payloads. These variations necessitated
936-717: The Redstone , derived from the V-2. The Sapphire and Nexo rockets of the amateur group Copenhagen Suborbitals provide a modern example of jet vanes. Jet vanes must be made of a refractory material or actively cooled to prevent them from melting. Sapphire used solid copper vanes for copper's high heat capacity and thermal conductivity, and Nexo used graphite for its high melting point, but unless actively cooled, jet vanes will undergo significant erosion. This, combined with jet vanes' inefficiency, mostly precludes their use in new rockets. Some smaller sized atmospheric tactical missiles , such as
988-495: The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), S-300P (SA-10) surface-to-air missile , UGM-27 Polaris nuclear ballistic missile and RT-23 (SS-24) ballistic missile and smaller battlefield weapons such as Swingfire . The principles of air thrust vectoring have been recently adapted to military sea applications in the form of fast water-jet steering that provide super-agility. Examples are
1040-509: The nozzle of the rocket using electric actuators or hydraulic cylinders . The nozzle is attached to the missile via a ball joint with a hole in the centre, or a flexible seal made of a thermally resistant material, the latter generally requiring more torque and a higher power actuation system. The Trident C4 and D5 systems are controlled via hydraulically actuated nozzle. The STS SRBs used gimbaled nozzles. Another method of thrust vectoring used on solid propellant ballistic missiles
1092-657: The DCSS design was modified for use as the Delta IV's second stage in both the original 4-meter diameter form factor as well as a larger 5-meter diameter stage. A further refinement of the 5-meter diameter DCSS, known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, is used on the Block I Space Launch System rocket. Control of the second stage was provided by 4 sets of hydrazine thrusters installed around
SECTION 20
#17327728508391144-519: The Delta 8930. Due to the continual size and mass growth of commercial satellites in the late 1980s, McDonnell Douglas realized the need for a higher-performance rocket than even their new Delta II . New satellite bus offerings from Hughes required a launch vehicle with a 4-meter diameter payload fairing as well as the ability to send 3.5 tons of payload to a geostationary transfer orbit – neither of which Delta II offered. Multiple options for evolving
1196-553: The Delta II to support larger payloads were considered in the late 1980s and early 1990s, namely using higher-performing liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen upper stages. Eventually, the Delta III was announced in 1995, boasting an evolved Delta II first stage and a second stage based on that of the Japanese H-II rocket. This led to Delta III being similar in size to Delta II, meaning that the existing Delta II infrastructure at SLC-17B could be used after some modifications. Soon after
1248-567: The Delta II's standard GEM-40 motors. Six were ignited on the launch pad, while the remaining three were ignited just before burnout and separation of the ground-lit boosters. To maintain steering authority, three of the ground-lit boosters had vectoring nozzles . GEM-46 boosters would later find use on Delta II, creating the Delta II Heavy variant. The second stage of the Delta III was the newly developed Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS), which burned liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. It
1300-599: The Delta IV Medium. Delta Cryogenic Second Stage The Delta Cryogenic Second Stage ( DCSS ) is a family of cryogenic-fuelled rocket stages used on the Delta III , Delta IV , and on the Space Launch System Block 1 launch vehicles. The DCSS employs a unique two-tank architecture where the cylindrical liquid hydrogen (LH 2 ) tank carries payload launch loads and forms
1352-648: The RL10B-2 engine, however Artemis II and III will use the RL10C-2. The ICPS for the Artemis I mission was mated to the SLS launch stack on 6 July 2021. It performed as expected, providing the necessary thrust during the successful launch on 16 November 2022 at 06:47:44 UTC (01:47:44 EST). The ICPS is designed as a temporary solution and slated to be replaced by the next-generation Exploration Upper Stage for
1404-505: The announcement, Hughes placed an order for 13 Delta III launches. Delta III would only fly three times. The first two launches, both carrying live satellites, ended in failure. The third and final launch, carrying a dummy payload, was only partially successful after the RL-10B second-stage engine shut down prematurely. After commercial interest declined, the Delta III program was officially ended in 2003. Boeing then transitioned their focus to
1456-404: The atmosphere, aerodynamic control surfaces are ineffective, so thrust vectoring is the primary means of attitude control . Exhaust vanes and gimbaled engines were used in the 1930s by Robert Goddard . For aircraft, the method was originally envisaged to provide upward vertical thrust as a means to give aircraft vertical ( VTOL ) or short ( STOL ) takeoff and landing ability. Subsequently, it
1508-492: The bottom of the liquid oxygen tank. During engine burns, these thrusters only provided roll control (as the engine itself could gimbal for pitch and yaw). During coast periods, these would then provide 3-axis control. Delta III was offered with an optional Star 48B solid-fueled third stage. It would have been attached on top of the DCSS and contained inside the payload fairing. The Star 48B would have been used for high-energy orbits, like geostationary or interplanetary missions. It
1560-453: The consecutive failures of the initial Delta IIIs, combined with the more advanced Delta IV program and the continuing success of the Delta II, left the Delta III as an interim vehicle. Like the Delta II, the first stage of the Delta III burned kerosene and liquid oxygen and was powered by one Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine with two LR-101 -NA-11 vernier engines for roll control. The vernier engines were also used for attitude control after
1612-701: The deployment of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fifth-generation jet fighter in 2005, with its afterburning, 2D thrust-vectoring Pratt & Whitney F119 turbofan . While the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II uses a conventional afterburning turbofan (Pratt & Whitney F135) to facilitate supersonic operation, its F-35B variant, developed for joint usage by the US Marine Corps , Royal Air Force , Royal Navy , and Italian Navy , also incorporates
Delta III - Misplaced Pages Continue
1664-658: The designer was a patient in a mental hospital. Now being researched, Fluidic Thrust Vectoring (FTV) diverts thrust via secondary fluidic injections. Tests show that air forced into a jet engine exhaust stream can deflect thrust up to 15 degrees. Such nozzles are desirable for their lower mass and cost (up to 50% less), inertia (for faster, stronger control response), complexity (mechanically simpler, fewer or no moving parts or surfaces, less maintenance), and radar cross section for stealth . This will likely be used in many unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), and 6th generation fighter aircraft . Thrust-vectoring flight control (TVFC)
1716-616: The diameter of its 5-meter DCSS. The Delta IV family of rockets has been retired, with a final launch on 9 April 2024. The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) serves as the upper stage for the initial configuration (Block 1) of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). It's a derivative of the 5-meter DCSS, with minimal modifications for SLS integration. Like the earlier DCSS, the ICPS is powered by one Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine and generates 110.1 kilonewtons (24,800 pounds-force) of maximum thrust. Like all previous DCSS units, Artemis I used
1768-426: The earliest methods of thrust vectoring in rocket engines was to place vanes in the engine's exhaust stream. These exhaust vanes or jet vanes allow the thrust to be deflected without moving any parts of the engine, but reduce the rocket's efficiency. They have the benefit of allowing roll control with only a single engine, which nozzle gimbaling does not. The V-2 used graphite exhaust vanes and aerodynamic vanes, as did
1820-796: The early SLBMs of the United States Navy . An effect similar to thrust vectoring can be produced with multiple vernier thrusters , small auxiliary combustion chambers which lack their own turbopumps and can gimbal on one axis. These were used on the Atlas and R-7 missiles and are still used on the Soyuz rocket , which is descended from the R-7, but are seldom used on new designs due to their complexity and weight. These are distinct from reaction control system thrusters, which are fixed and independent rocket engines used for maneuvering in space. One of
1872-505: The event of malfunctioning CAFC as a result of battle damage. To implement TVFC a variety of nozzles both mechanical and fluidic may be applied. This includes convergent and convergent-divergent nozzles that may be fixed or geometrically variable. It also includes variable mechanisms within a fixed nozzle, such as rotating cascades and rotating exit vanes. Within these aircraft nozzles, the geometry itself may vary from two-dimensional (2-D) to axisymmetric or elliptic. The number of nozzles on
1924-462: The exhaust stream. This method allows designs to deflect thrust through as much as 90 degrees relative to the aircraft centreline. If an aircraft uses thrust vectoring for VTOL operations the engine must be sized for vertical lift, rather than normal flight, which results in a weight penalty. Afterburning (or Plenum Chamber Burning, PCB, in the bypass stream) is difficult to incorporate and is impractical for take-off and landing thrust vectoring, because
1976-415: The first two were failures, and the third, though declared successful, reached the low end of its targeted orbit range and carried only a dummy (inert) payload. The Delta III could deliver up to 3,810 kilograms (8,400 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit , twice the payload of its predecessor, the Delta II. Under the four-digit designation system from earlier Delta rockets , the Delta III is classified as
2028-414: The flight envelope where the main aerodynamic surfaces are stalled. TVFC includes control of STOVL aircraft during the hover and during the transition between hover and forward speeds below 50 knots where aerodynamic surfaces are ineffective. When vectored thrust control uses a single propelling jet, as with a single-engined aircraft, the ability to produce rolling moments may not be possible. An example
2080-444: The increased height of the second stage, allowed Delta III to use the same launch facilities as Delta II with only minor modifications. The first stage thrust was augmented by nine GEM -46 solid rocket boosters, sometimes referred to as GEM LDXL (Large Diameter Extended Length). These were 14.7 m (48 ft) meters in length, 1.2 m (46 inches) in diameter, and had a mass of 19 metric tons each, about six metric tons more than
2132-424: The main engine shut down, just before the second stage separated. While the propellant load and gross mass of the stage were nearly identical to the Delta II, the diameter of the kerosene tank was increased from 2.4 meters to 4 meters, while its height was reduced. The liquid oxygen tank and engine section remained largely unchanged. The redesigned kerosene tank reduced the overall length of the stage and, combined with
Delta III - Misplaced Pages Continue
2184-556: The motion of the aircraft. The first airship that used a control system based on pressurized air was Enrico Forlanini 's Omnia Dir in 1930s. A design for a jet incorporating thrust vectoring was submitted in 1949 to the British Air Ministry by Percy Walwyn; Walwyn's drawings are preserved at the National Aerospace Library at Farnborough. Official interest was curtailed when it was realised that
2236-439: The new Delta IV rocket, which was much more capable than Delta III. Multiple Delta III rockets were already built and would have been unused, but they were cannibalized for parts for both Delta II and Delta IV. Delta III was developed from the Delta II rocket. The new vehicle sported a modified first stage and a new, more efficient upper stage. This led to Delta III having around double the payload capacity of Delta II. However,
2288-461: The second stage it developed for the H-IIA rocket. The initial versions for the Delta III were built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. For the Delta IV, production was transferred to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and later to United Launch Alliance . The DCSS first flew on three Delta III missions, however it was never successful. On its maiden flight, a booster failed and the rocket
2340-479: The upper section. An oblate spheroid tank filled with liquid oxygen (LOX) and the engine are suspended from the LH 2 tank and covered by the interstage during initial launch. The DCSS is powered by a single RL10B-2 engine built by Aerojet Rocketdyne , which features an extendable carbon–carbon nozzle to improve specific impulse. The DCSS was designed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan , based on
2392-498: The use of composite interstages, which linked the first and second stages together. For the Delta IV Medium configuration, a tapering interstage was employed to transition between the 5-meter diameter of the first stage and the smaller 4-meter diameter of the DCSS. In contrast, the Delta IV Heavy configuration and some Delta IV Medium+ configurations, with larger payload capacities, utilized a cylindrical interstage that matched
2444-475: The vertical plane. This produces a corkscrew effect, greatly enhancing the turning capability of the aircraft. A few computerized studies add thrust vectoring to extant passenger airliners, like the Boeing 727 and 747, to prevent catastrophic failures, while the experimental X-48C may be jet-steered in the future. Examples of rockets and missiles which use thrust vectoring include both large systems such as
2496-553: The very hot exhaust can damage runway surfaces. Without afterburning it is hard to reach supersonic flight speeds. A PCB engine, the Bristol Siddeley BS100 , was cancelled in 1965. Tiltrotor aircraft vector thrust via rotating turboprop engine nacelles . The mechanical complexities of this design are quite troublesome, including twisting flexible internal components and driveshaft power transfer between engines. Most current tiltrotor designs feature two rotors in
2548-404: Was destroyed by range safety, causing the loss of the DCSS before ignition. The second mission saw the DCSS itself malfunction tumbling uncontrollably, inserting the payload into a useless orbit. On the third flight, the DCSS performed its planned burn but fell short of the target orbit due to premature propellant exhaustion, resulting in mission failure. An un-flown example is on display outside
2600-402: Was developed and manufactured partly by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and was based on the second stage of JAXA 's H-IIA rocket. Boeing was in charge of preliminary design and the development of new technologies, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was responsible for manufacturing. The liquid hydrogen tank was 4 m (13 ft) meters in diameter while the separate liquid oxygen tank (attached by
2652-477: Was never flown on Delta III but was commonly used on Delta II missions. The Star 48B has also seen use on Delta IV and Atlas V. Delta III's payload fairing was a new composite design, matching the upper stage hydrogen tank's 4 m (13 ft) diameter and allowing larger payloads than the Delta II's 9.5 or 10-foot-diameter fairing. Delta III's 4-meter fairing was derived from Delta II's 10 ft composite fairing. This fairing design would later be repurposed on
SECTION 50
#17327728508392704-446: Was realized that using vectored thrust in combat situations enabled aircraft to perform various maneuvers not available to conventional-engined planes. To perform turns, aircraft that use no thrust vectoring must rely on aerodynamic control surfaces only, such as ailerons or elevator ; aircraft with vectoring must still use control surfaces, but to a lesser extent. In missile literature originating from Russian sources, thrust vectoring
#838161