Ad: Boeing Inertial Upper Stage (Sep, 1979)

What percentage of Scientific American readers could possibly be in the market for an Inertial Upper Stage? Frankly I would be worried if someone was planning to launch a satellite, stumbled across this ad and proclaimed “Aha! Now I know what to do about apogee injection!”

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USE THE BOEING IUS AND FORGET ABOUT
WORRIES 1 THROUGH 11

If you’ve been thinking about choosing the right upper stage to get your own spacecraft off the ground, you’re no doubt going through a little anxiety right now. What about reliability? How about performance? Who’s responsible? Costs? Accuracy? Things like that. We’d like to make a case for the Boeing Inertial Upper Stage — the only all-inclusive, worry-free, complete package available.

So let’s take your worries one at a time:

WORRY #1 What’s the chance of losing my spacecraft?
Boeing has put together the most reliable upper stage ever developed for unmanned space applications. Our work on previous space projects has given us experience to implement high reliability components and optimum subsystem design, along with redundancy, into a completely integrated IUS.

WORRY # 2 Will I get enough performance out of my mission?
The Boeing IUS can deliver 5,000 pounds of payload to geosynchronous orbit. It’ll deliver 11,000 pounds to a 4,200-nautical-mile circular orbit with 12 degrees of plane change or 2,000 pounds to a 48,000-nautical-mile circular orbit with 120 degrees of plane change. It can even put a 4,200-pound payload into low-altitude polar orbit from the Eastern Test Range.

WORRY #3 Will I have an option additional to the Space Shuttle?
The IUS also is compatible with the Titan 34-D launch vehicle, providing the potential for a backup booster.

WORRY #4 How accurate am I going to be?
Validation test measurements of positioning and velocity accuracies prove that the IUS avionics surpass all requirements for both the shuttle and Titan launches. For example, geosynchronous injection accuracy with the shuttle is 23.2 nautical miles and 20 ft/sec.

WORRY #5 Will my spacecraft have a smooth ride?
The airborne support equipment that cradles the IUS and attached spacecraft in the shuttle’s cargo bay insures a smooth, protected ride during all phases of the shuttle operation. The low response design reduces spacecraft dynamic loads to approximately one-third of that experienced without the system.

WORRY #6 Suppose something goes wrong.
The Boeing IUS uses an adaptive guidance approach which can compensate for contingencies such as off-nominal shuttle performance or time delays in deployment.

WORRY #7 Can I check out my spacecraft before I’m committed to a launch?
The airborne support equipment permits predeployment tests. It can tilt the IUS so that the spacecraft can be completely checked out from either the shuttle or a ground satellite control facility. If spacecraft systems are not performing properly, the vehicle can be restored in the shuttle and returned home for repair.

WORRY #8 How about apogee injection?
The IUS second-stage motor will provide apogee injection eliminating the need for an apogee kick motor on board the spacecraft.

WORRY #9 How much support can I get?
The IUS equipment bay module with its avionics and reaction control system can supply services to your spacecraft from lift-off through final separation. For example: eight redundant discrete commands, 3 kilowatt-hours of nominal 28 volt DC power, downlink telemetry of 4 kbps per spacecraft for up to four spacecraft and attitude control to satisfy communications and thermal requirements.

WORRY #10 What about cost of the spacecraft integration?
The Boeing IUS has already solved all problems of integration with the shuttle. Since all your spacecraft interfaces will be with or through IUS, your cost for integration will be greatly reduced.

WORRY #11 What’s the best deal for my money?
No other answer offers you such versatility and reliability. The Boeing IUS allows you to take full advantage of the total STS design at the lowest cost. Because the IUS subsystems and system configuration are made to order for your precise specification all in one neat package.

Boeing has the worry-free IUS.