followed by the disastrous explosion of another in 1986 due to a SRM failure. Due to this, the Titan IV-B vehicle was intended to use the new composite-casing Upgraded Solid Rocket Motors. Due to development problems the first few Titan IV-B launches flew with the old-style UA1207 SRMs. General characteristics Builder: Lockheed-Martin Astronautics Power Plant: Stage 0 consisted of two solid-rocket motors. Stage 1 used an LR87-AJ-11 liquid-propellant rocket engine. Stage 2 used the LR91-AJ-11 liquid-propellant engine. Optional upper stages included the Centaur and Inertial Upper Stage. Guidance System: A ring laser gyro guidance system manufactured by Honeywell. Thrust: Stage 0: Solid rocket motors provided 1.7 million pounds force (7.56 MN) per motor at liftoff. Stage 1: LR87-AJ-11 provided an average of 548,000 pounds force (2.44 MN) Stage 2: LR91-AJ-11 provided an average of 105,000 pounds force (467 kN). Optional Centaur (RL10A-3-3A) upper stage provided 33,100 pounds force (147 kN) and the Inertial Upper Stage provided up to 41,500 pounds force (185 kN). Length: Up to Lift Capability: Could carry up to into low Earth orbit up to into a geosynchronous orbit when launched from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla.; and up to into a low Earth polar orbit when launched from Vandenberg AFB. into geosynchronous orbit: with Centaur upper stage with Inertial Upper Stage Payload fairing: Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co Diameter: Length: 56, 66, 76, or 86 ft Mass: 11,000, 12,000, 13,000, or 14,000 lb Design: 3 sections, isogrid structure, Aluminum Maximum Takeoff Weight: Approximately 2.2 million pounds (1,000,000 kg) Cost: Approximately $250–350 million, depending on launch configuration. Date deployed: June 1989 Launch sites: Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Upgrades Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade test stand In 1988–89, The R. M. Parsons Company designed and built a full-scale steel tower and deflector facility, which was used to test the Titan IV Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU). The launch and the effect of the SRMU thrust force on the Titan IV vehicle were modeled. To evaluate the magnitude of the thrust force, the SRMU was connected to the steel tower through load measurement systems and launched in-place. It was the first full-scale test conducted to simulate the effects of the SRMU on the Titan IV vehicle. Proposed aluminum-lithium tanks In the early 1980s, General Dynamics developed a plan to assemble a lunar landing spacecraft in-orbit. A Space Shuttle would lift a Lunar Module into orbit and