Upper Stages - friznit/Unofficial-BDB-Wiki GitHub Wiki

• Vicenza (Sergeant)
• Alpha (Able)
• Alphastar (Ablestar)
• Belle (Agena)
• Belle SOT (Agena SOT)
• Daleth E/F (Delta E/F)
• Daleth K (Delta K)
• CUSS (HOSS)
• Vejur (Vega)
• Inon (Centaur)
• Prometheus-T (Titan Transtage)
• Sarnus (Saturn)
• Payload Assist Module (PAM)
• Inertial Upper Stage (IUS)
• Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS)
• Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS)
• Exploration Upper Stage (EUS)*
• Earth Departure Stage (EDS)*
• Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES)*

*Not (yet) included in BDB mod

Sergeant

• Redstone
• Juno I
• Juno II

Able

• Vanguard
• Atlas-Able
• Thor-Able
• Delta B, C, D

Able/Delta & Delta B

Ablestar

• Thor-Ablestar
• Thor-Delta
• Delta 0100, 1000, E, G, L, M, N

Agena

• Atlas LV-3A, Thor (Agena A & B)
• Atlas SLV-3A/B (Agena D)
• Thorad-Agena (Agena D)
• Titan IIIB (Agena D)

Agena-SOT

Shuttle/Agena Upper Stage (Agena SOT) was a concept study for a re-usable space tug on the Shuttle. Take an Agena D, add 6 to 8 strap-on drop tanks (SOT), a modified engine and a helical antenna for long range comms.

Delta-E/F

• Delta E-N (Delta E)
• Delta 300, Delta 900 (Delta F)

Delta-K

• Delta 1000, 2000 (Delta P)
• Delta 3000, 4000, 5000 (Delta K)
• Delta II-6000, 7000 (Delta K)

HOSS

Hydrogen Oxygen Second Stage considered for Delta M upgrade with combinations of different SRBs (3x Castor 1 or Algol II plus 3/6x Castor 2); 0.9375m or 1.875m fairing (from Titan 23C).

Vega

• Atlas-Vega

Centaur

Centaur D

Atlas Centaur D is the first operational Centaur upper stage featuring two RL10-A-3 engines. Centaur D-1T, D-1A and D-1AR include various improvements to avionics, launch vehicle and payload interfaces but for BDB purposes they are essentially the same. Uniquely, Centaur D has jettisonable insulation to absorb heat and mitigate LH2 boil off during the launch phase. It should be treated like a fairing and dumped in the upper atmosphere to save weight before the upper stage burn.

• Atlas Centaur LV-3C, SLV-3C, G
• Atlas SLV-3D, G (Centaur D-1A / D-1AR)
• Atlas I (Centaur I)
• Titan IIIE Third Stage (Centaur D-1T)
• Saturn IB-CE (as S-V Third Stage)
• Titan 3L2 (Third Stage)
• Saturn H03 (Third Stage)

Centaur DM

Also known as "Baby Centaur," Centaur DM is a kick stage powered by a single RL10-A-3 engine and designed to work in conjunction with the Centaur D.

Centaur II

Centaur II extends the fuel tank further and uses one or two RL10 engines. Atlas II used used 2xRL10-A3 engines which were upgraded to 2xRL10-A4 engines for Atlas IIA and IIAS. Atlas IIIA used only a single engine version of Centaur II with 2xRL10-A4 engines.

LV	Engine
Atlas II	2xRL10A-3
Atlas II-A	2xRL-10A-4
Atlas II-AS	2xRL-10A-4
Atlas III-A	1xRL10A-4

• Atlas II, III

Centaur III (Common Centaur)

Like Centaur II, Centaur III can use either one (Single Engine Centaur) or two (Dual Engine Centaur) RL-10A-4 engines. Some missions used the RL-10A-41N with the extendable nozzle although the fixed nozzle version has been favored more. More recently RL10-A-4 engines were replaced with the fixed nozzle RL10-C-1. Often referred to as Atlas V Centaur. Use the regular Inon Engine Mounting Plate for DEC.

LV	Engine
Atlas III-B	1x or 2x RL10A-4
Atlas II-A	1x or 2x RL-10A-4
Atlas V	1x or 2x RL-10A4
Atlas V (present day)	1x or 2x RL-10C-1

• Atlas IIIB, V, V Heavy

Centaur V

Not to be confused with Atlas V Centaur, Centaur V is in development for the Vulcan rocket and integrates technology from the ACES project. Centaur V features a widened 5.4m (3.375m KSP scale) tank to match the diameter of the Vulcan core and a cluster of four BE-3 or RL-10 engines.

• Vulcan

Centaur G

Shuttle-Centaur (STS-Centaur) features a widened upper tank to fit the shuttle cargo bay.

• Space Shuttle

Centaur G' / T

Centaur G Prime features a stretched tank. Centaur T is a modified version for use on Titan IV. Both use the RL-10A-3 engine. Later versions of the Centaur T are upgraded with RL10-A4 engines.

• Titan IV

Transtage

The Transtage used on Titan 3A & 3C uses 2x linear and 2x 3-way RCS and also features a small engineering launch antenna. The later Transtage used on Titan 23C & 34D switches to a 6 RCS pod design using 4x linear and 2x 2-way RCS. There is also a 4-way RCS for use with the X-20 space plane or other similar payloads.

• Titan IIIA, IIIC, 23C, 34D

Saturn

S-IV

S-IV uses a cluster of six RL10-A3 engines.

• Saturn I

S-IVB

• Saturn IB, IC
• Saturn IB-CE (Second Stage)
• Saturn II INT-18, INT-20
• Saturn V (Third Stage)
• Saturn M42
• Saturn M43, H03 (S-IVC)

PAM

Apogee Kick Motors, Payload Assist Modules and MSPB-II Upper Stage Kit for Burner / Burner-2

• Thor-Burner
• Delta
• Titan II

IUS

The two Stage Inertial Upper Stage is an Orbus-6 Solid Rocket Motor atop an Orbus-21. Alternatives include two Orbus-21s and a three stage version with two Orbus-21 and an Orbus-6 on the top.

• Titan 34D
• Titan IV (Third Stage)
• Space Shuttle (with SPDS)

TOS

Transfer Orbit Stage is a three axis stabilised Orbus-21. Basically it's the 1st stage of IUS.

• Titan 34D
• Commercial Titan III
• Space Shuttle

DCSS

DCSS comes in two sizes (4m & 5m diameter / 2.5m & 3.125m KSP Scale), both powered by a single RL10B-2 engine. The Delta IV variant has a slightly extended tank (configurable via part switch). Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) is a modified 5m DCSS for use on the SLS Block 1.

• Delta III, IV-M (4m)
• Delta IV-M+, IV-H (5m)
• SLS Blk 1 (5m)

EUS

Exploration Upper Stage is in development for the Space Launch System Block 1B, succeeding the Block 1's ICPS. Similar to the Saturn S-IV, EUS uses a cluster of four RL10C engines on a 8m diameter tank (5m KSP scale) to complete the ascent phase then reignites to send payloads beyond orbit.

• SLS Block 1B (EUS)

EUS Kitbash Build

• reDirect Stage Adapter & Fairing
• Kerbodyne S3 Liquid Fuel Tanks
• NFLV NR-AD-K1 Adapter
• Restock Corgi Cluster

EDS

The final (2008) Ares V EDS design uses a single J-2X engine on a 10m diameter (6.25m KSP Scale) tank. While development is on hold for the SLS BLock 2 EDS, it is expected to use up to 3x J2X engines on a 8m tank (5m KSP Scale) to match the diameter of the SLS core.

• Ares V
• SLS Block 2

ACES

The Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage is still in development but is essentially an upgrade on the Centaur, with tankage widened to 5m and powered by four enhanced RL10 engines. (ACES is available in the Hephaistos companion mod by Superpenguin160).

• Vulcan