Evolution of the U.S. Centaur upper stage


The Centaur upper stage, fuelled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, was initially developed by General Dynamics to place military communications satellites into orbit. When the programme was cancelled, the launcher was handed over for civilian use by NASA. In 1994 the rights to the Centaur upper stage were sold to Martin Marietta, which in 1995 merged with Lockheed to become Lockheed Martin. The Centaur upper stage was first used on 27 November 1963 after a failure on 8 May 1962.

The Centaur upper stage was extensively used for the Atlas launch vehicle in a range of versions. The Centaur was also used for the Titan-3E and Titan-IV launch vehicles, in two versions.
The Centaur T of the Titan-IV based on the Centaur G and Centaur G-Prime, with diameter of 4.32 m. The Centaur G / G-Prime were planned as future kick-stages for payloads on the Space Shuttle.

 Type

Length

Fuel (t)

Engine P&W RL-10

Thrust (kN)

Isp (sec)

Used for

Launches

Centaur A

9.14

13.79

2x RL-10A-1

133.4

422.0

SLV-3C

1

Centaur B

13.79

2x RL-10A-3

133.4

427.0

SLV-3C

1

Centaur C

13.79

2x RL-10A-3-1

133.4

431.0

SLV-3C

3

Centaur D

13.79

2x RL-10A-3-3

133.4

442.2

LV-3C, SLV-3C

24

Centaur D-1A

13.79

2x RL-10A-3-3

133.4

442.2

SLV-3D

6

Centaur D-1T

13.79

2x RL-10A-3-3T

133.4

442.2

Titan-3E

7

Centaur D-1AR

13.79

2x RL-10A-3-3A

146.8

444.4

SLV-3D, Atlas-G

33

Centaur D-1B

13.79

2x RL-10A-3-3A

146.8

444.4

Atlas I

11

Centaur T

11.73

20.86

2x RL-10A-3-3AT

146.8

444.4

Titan-IVA

9

Centaur G

7.10

13.50

2x RL-10A-3-3A

146.8

444.4

Space Shuttle

0

Centaur G-Prime

11.73

20.86

2x RL-10A-3-3A

146.8

444.4

Space Shuttle

0

Centaur D-2

10.06

16.93

2x RL-10A-3-3A

146.8

444.4

Atlas-II

10

Centaur D-2A

16.93

2x RL-10A-4

182.4

446.4

Atlas-IIA

8

Centaur D-2AN

10.52

16.93

2x RL-10A-4N

185.0

448.9

Atlas-IIA, Atlas-IIAS

10

Centaur D-2A1

10.06

16.93

2x RL-10A-4-1

195.7

446.4

Atlas-IIA, Atlas-IIAS

5

Centaur T

11.73

20.86

2x RL-10A-4-1

195.7

446.4

Titan -IVB

7

Centaur D-2A1N

10.52

16.93

2x RL-10A-4-1N

198.4

450.5

Atlas-IIA, Atlas-IIAS

30

Centaur D-3A SEC

16.93

1x RL-10A-4-1N

99.2

450.5

Atlas-IIIA

2

Centaur D-3B SEC

12.68

20.67

1x RL-10A-4-1

97.9

446.4

Atlas-IIIB

3

Centaur D-3B DEC

20.67

2x RL-10A-4-1N

198.4

450.5

Atlas-IIIB

1

Centaur D-5 SEC

20.83

1x RL-10A-4-2

97.9

446.4

Atlas-V

51

Centaur D-5 SEC 20.83 1x RL-10A-4-2N 99.2 450.5

Atlas V

Centaur D-5 SEC

20.83

 1x RL-10C-1

101.8

449.7

 Atlas-V

18

Atlas Centaur


 

 

no image

Centaur A

Centaur B

Centaur C

Centaur D

 Centaur D-1A

Centaur D-1AR

Centaur D-1B

Centaur D-2

Centaur D-2A

LV-3C

LV-3C

LV-3C

LV-3C, SLV-3C

SLV-3D

SLV-3D, Atlas-G

Atlas-I

Atlas-II

Atlas-IIA

no image

Centaur D-2AN (DEC)

Centaur D-2A1 (DEC)

Centaur D-2A1N (DEC)

Centaur D-3A SEC

Centaur D-3B SEC

Centaur D-3B DEC

Centaur D-5 SEC

Centaur D-5 SEC

Centaur D-5 SEC

Atlas-IIA, Atlas-IIAS

 Atlas-IIA, Atlas-IIAS

  Atlas-IIA, Atlas-IIAS

Atlas-IIIA

Atlas-IIIB

Atlas-IIIB

Atlas-V (2002)

Atlas-V (2009)

Atlas-V (2014)

Titan Centaur

Centaur D-1T

Centaur T

Centaur G

Centaur G-Prime

 Titan-3E

Titan-IVA,Titan-IVB

Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle