The new Centaur

Two versions of a modified Centaur upper stage, to be carried aboard Shuttles Challenger and Atlantis, are being developed. The G type version, to be used by the Air Force, will provide greater space for larger satellites weighing up to 4800 kg. The G-prime version, to be used by NASA for the first time for the launches of Galileo and the International Solar Polar Mission in 1986, will be a higher performance rocket stage capable of transferring a 6350 kg payload to geostationary orbit. Centaur signals would be relayed through the TDRS satellites by an S-band transmitter, and a dump system would jettison all of the propellant before the stage would be released in the event of a launch abort, or a failure. With the Shuttle, the Centaur G family may provide a flexibility never before available on earlier missions: the carrying of larger cargoes to geostationary orbit, the ability to carry dual payloads, and docking and low thrust transfers.