Inertial Upper Stage

The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), originally designated the Interim Upper Stage, is a two-stage solid-fueled rocket upper stage developed by the U.S. Air Force for raising payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits following launch aboard a Titan III(34)D or Titan IV rocket, or from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle.

Read more about Inertial Upper Stage:  Development, Applications, Flights, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words upper and/or stage:

    If the upper beams are not straight, the lower beams will be crooked.
    Chinese proverb.

    I know that each stage is not going to last forever. I used to think that when he was little. Whenever he was in a bad stage I thought that he was going to be like that for the rest of his life and that I’d better do something to shape him up. When he was in a good state, I thought he was going to be a perfect child and I would never have to worry; he was always going to stay that way.
    —Anonymous Parent of An Eight-Year-Old. As quoted in Between Generations by Ellen Galinsky, ch. 4 (1981)