Bold Orion | |
---|---|
Bold Orion, with B-47 launch aircraft | |
Type | Air-launched ballistic missile |
Place of origin | United States |
Service history | |
In service | 1958–1959 |
Used by | United States Air Force |
Production history | |
Designed | 1958 |
Manufacturer | Martin Aircraft |
No. built | 12 |
Specifications (Two-stage version) | |
Length | 37 feet (11 m) |
Diameter | 2 feet 7 inches (0.79 m) |
| |
Engine |
First stage, Thiokol TX-20 Sergeant; 1,500 lbf (6.66 kN) Second stage, ABL X-248 Altair; 2,800 lbf (12.45 kN) |
Propellant | Solid fuel |
Operational range | 1,100 miles (1,800 km) |
Launch platform | B-47 Stratojet |
The Bold Orion missile, also known as Weapons System 199B (WS-199B), was a prototype air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed by Martin Aircraft during the 1950s. Developed in both one- and two-stage designs, the missile was moderately successful in testing, and helped pave the way for development of the GAM-87 Skybolt ALBM. In addition, the Bold Orion was used in early anti-satellite weapons testing, performing the first interception of a satellite by a missile.
Design and development[]
The Bold Orion missile was developed as part of Weapons System 199, initiated by the United States Air Force (USAF) in response to the U.S. Navy's Polaris program,[1] with funding authorised by the United States Congress in 1957.[2] The purpose of WS-199 was the development of technology that would be used in new strategic weapons for the USAF's Strategic Air Command, not to deliver operational weapons; a primary emphasis was on proving the feasibility of an air-launched ballistic missile.[2][3][4]
The designation WS-199B was assigned to the project that, under a contract awarded in 1958 to Martin Aircraft, would become the Bold Orion missile.[3] The design of Bold Orion was simple, using parts developed for other missile systems to reduce the cost and development time of the project.[3] The initial Bold Orion configuration was a single-stage vehicle, using a Thiokol TX-20 Sergeant solid-fuel rocket.[3][5] Following initial testing, the Bold Orion configuration was altered to become a two-stage vehicle, an Allegany Ballistics Laboratory Altair upper stage being added to the missile.[3][6]
Operational history[]
Having been given top priority by the Air Force,[7] the first flight test of the Bold Orion missile was conducted on May 26, 1958, from a Boeing B-47 Stratojet carrier aircraft,[3][8] which launched the Bold Orion vehicle at the apex of a high-speed, high-angle climb.[3][9] The zoom climb tactic, combined with the thrust from the rocket motor of the missile itself, allowed the missile to achieve its maximum range, or, alternatively, to reach space.[9]
A twelve-flight test series of the Bold Orion vehicle was conducted;[3] however, despite suffering only one outright failure, the initial flight tests of the single-stage rocket proved less successful than hoped.[3] Authorisation was received to modify the Bold Orion to become a two-stage vehicle; in addition to the modifications improving the missile's reliability, they increased the range of Bold Orion to over 1,000 miles (1,600 km).[4][10] Four of the final six test firings were of the two-stage vehicle; these were considered completely successful, and established that the ALBM was a viable weapon.[2][3]
ASAT test[]
The final test launch of Bold Orion, conducted on October 13, 1959, was a test of the vehicle's capabilities in the anti-satellite role.[11][12] Launched from an altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) from its B-47 mothership, the missile successfully intercepted the Explorer 6 satellite,[13] passing its target at a range of less than 4 miles (6.4 km) at an altitude of 156 miles (251 km).[3][14] Had the missile been fitted with a nuclear warhead, the satellite would have been destroyed.[9][15]
The Bold Orion ASAT test was the first interception of a satellite by any method, proving that anti-satellite missiles were feasible.[11][16] However this test, along with an earlier, unsuccessful test of the High Virgo missile in the anti-satellite role, had political repercussions; the Eisenhower administration sought to establish space as a neutral ground for everyone's usage, and the "indication of hostile intent" the tests were seen to give was frowned upon, with anti-satellite weapons development being curtailed shortly thereafter.[9][17]
Legacy[]
The results of the Bold Orion project, along with those from the testing of the High Virgo missile, also developed under WS-199, provided data and knowledge that assisted the Air Force in forming the requirements for the follow-on WS-138A, which would produce the GAM-87 Skybolt missile.[3][18]
Launch history[]
Date/Time (GMT) | Rocket | Launch site | Outcome | Remarks[19] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1958-05-26 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) |
1958-06-27 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Failure | Apogee 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) |
1958-07-18 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
1958-09-25 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
1958-10-10 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
1958-11-17 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
1958-12-08 | Two-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 200 kilometres (120 mi) |
1958-12-16 | Two-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 200 kilometres (120 mi) |
1959-04-04 | Two-stage | AMR DZ | Success | Apogee 200 kilometres (120 mi) |
1959-06-08 | Single-stage | AMR DZ | Success | Apogee 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
1959-06-19 | Single-stage | Cape Canaveral | Success | Apogee 100 kilometres (62 mi) |
1959-10-13 | Two-stage | AMR DZ | Success | Apogee 200 kilometres (120 mi) |
See also[]
- Related development
- Comparable weapons
References[]
Citations[]
- ↑ Ball 1980, p.226.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Yengst 2010, p.37.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Parsch 2005
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stares 1985, p.109.
- ↑ Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.30.
- ↑ Smith 1981, p.178.
- ↑ Missiles and Rockets, volume 5. Washington Countdown. p.9.
- ↑ Friedman 2000, p.122.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Temple 2004, p.111.
- ↑ Besserer and Besserer 1959, p.34.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Peebles 1997, p. 65.
- ↑ Chronology 1961, p.89.
- ↑ Bowman 1986, p.14.
- ↑ Yenne 2005, p.67.
- ↑ Bulkeley and Spinardi 1986, p.17.
- ↑ Hays 2002, p.84.
- ↑ Lewis and Lewis 1987, pp.93–95.
- ↑ International Aeronautic Federation. Interavia volume 15, p.814.
- ↑ Bold Orion Archived November 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Accessed 2011-01-19.
Bibliography[]
- 1st Session. House Committee On Science And Astronautics. U.S. Congress. 87th Congress (1961). A Chronology of Missile and Astronautic Events. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. ASIN B000M1F3O0. https://books.google.com/?id=ne4yAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Bold+Orion%22+missile+%22October+13%22&q=%22Bold+Orion%22#search_anchor. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- Ball, Desmond (1980). Politics and Force Levels: The Strategic Missile Program of the Kennedy Administration. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-520-03698-7. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9us4Q9iFI7kC. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- Besserer, C.W.; Hazel C. Besserer (1959). Guide to the Space Age. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice-Hall. ASIN B004BIGGO6.
- Bowman, Robert (1986). Star Wars: A Defense Insider's Case Against the Strategic Defense Initiative. Los Angeles: Tarcher Publications. ASIN B000NQI6B6. https://books.google.com/?id=6m7fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Bold+Orion%22+%22B-47%22&dq=%22Bold+Orion%22+%22B-47%22. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- Bulkeley, Rip; Graham Spinardi (1986). Space Weapons: Deterrence or Delusion?. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-389-20640-8. https://archive.org/details/spaceweaponsdete0000bulk.
- Friedman, Norman (2000). Seapower and Space: From the Dawn of the Missile Age to Net-Centric Warfare. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-004-3.
- Hays, Peter L. (2002). United States Military Space: Into the Twenty-First Century. INSS Occasional Papers. 42. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Press. ISBN 9781428961241. https://books.google.com/books?id=BJqSBNAMpH4C&pg=PA84.
- Lewis, John S.; Ruth A. Lewis (1987). Space Resources: Breaking the Bonds of Earth. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-06498-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=E4onaMUeHM8C&pg=PA93.
- Ordway, Frederick Ira; Ronald C. Wakeford (1960). International Missile and Spacecraft Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill. ASIN B000MAEGVC.
- Parsch, Andreas (2005). "WS-199". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles. designation-systems.net. http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/ws-199.html. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- Peebles, Curtis (1997). High Frontier: The U.S. Air Force and the Military Space Program. Washington, D.C.: Air Force Historical Studies Office. ISBN 978-0-7881-4800-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=cMgdYypcPc8C&pg=PA65. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- Smith, Marcia S. (1981). United States Civilian Space Programs, 1958–1978; Report Prepared for the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications. 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. ASIN B000VA45WS.
- Stares, Paul B. (1985). The Militarization of Space: U.S. Policy, 1945–1984. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-1810-5.
- Temple, L. Parker, III (2004). Shades of Gray: National Security and the Evolution of Space Reconnaissance. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN 978-1-56347-723-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=3I8Xki-NiKMC&pg=PA111. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- Yengst, William (2010). Lightning Bolts: First Manuevering [sic] Reentry Vehicles. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing & Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-61566-547-1.
- Yenne, Bill (2005). Secret Gadgets and Strange Gizmos: High-Tech (and Low-Tech) Innovations of the U.S. Military. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2115-7.
Further reading[]
- Armagnac, Alden P. (June 1961). "U.S. Plans First Warship In Space". https://books.google.com/books?id=ASYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA200. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Bold Orion. |
- Bold Orion ALBM (WS-199B), Gunter's Space Page.
- Bold Orion (2 Stage) ALBM (WS-199B), Gunter's Space Page.
- Bold Orion, spaceline.org.
|
The original article can be found at Bold Orion and the edit history here.