The Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS) was an upper stage developed by Martin Marietta for Orbital Sciences Corporation during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The TOS was designed to be a lower-cost alternative to Inertial Upper Stage and Centaur upper stages. The TOS was designed to be deployed by the Titan 34D, Commercial Titan III and Space Shuttle.
The main propulsion system of the Transfer Orbit Stage was an Orbus 21 solid rocket motor. Attitude control was provided by hydrazine thrusters. The inertial guidance system used a ring laser gyroscope produced by Honeywell. Its control system employed a digital optimal, time-scheduled control algorithm to provide stability whilst the Orbus 21 was burning, while a phase-plane controller was used to manage its reaction-control system.
Only two Transfer Orbit Stages were launched. The first was launched on 25 September 1992, aboard a Commercial Titan III with the Mars Observer spacecraft bound for Mars. Despite a successful launch, the Mars Observer spacecraft later malfunctioned. The second use of a TOS was the deployment of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite from Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-51. This was also successful.
When deployed from the Space Shuttle Super-Zip connectors were used to secure the Transfer Orbit Stage. It could be spun up before deployment if necessary. On STS-51, the primary and backup separation systems were erroneously fired simultaneously, resulting in minor damage to both the TOS, and the Shuttle's payload bay lining.
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