Date Posted: 29 January 2002 Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems 37
TM-Astros
Avibras Aeroespacial first displayed a model of a Tactical Missile Astros (TM-Astros) at the Paris Air Show in June 1999. This was a modified Astros II unguided rocket, adapted to provide a guided missile variant. The design was said to be complete but, as this had been a private venture, the company was looking for an export order before going into a development programme. In July 2001 an export order was placed by an unknown country, but there is no known development order from the Brazilian Army.
A first test flight was made in late 1998, and further development tests have been reported from June 1999. TM-Astros has a length of 5.9 m, a diameter of 0.3 m, and an estimated launch weight of 600 kg.
The payload is expected to be 140 kg, and to be a unitary HE warhead or HE submunitions. There are two folding wings behind the payload bay, and the model on display showed air intakes either side of the rear body, for a turbojet motor. The missile is believed to cruise at 200 m altitude, at a speed of M0.6. An INS/GPS guidance system would be developed if required, and in 2001 a terminal guidance system was offered as well. The initial missile will have a maximum range of 150 km, but a later version could have a range increased to 300 km. A ship-launched version has been proposed, but the initial version will be ground-launched from the existing Astros II wheeled 6 ×6 launch vehicle. Astros II unguided rockets have been exported to Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
1 Image OFFENSIVE WEAPONS (UNCLASSIFIED PROJECTS) - SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLES, BRAZIL
Date Posted: 29 January 2002 Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems 37
Sonda 1/2/3/4
Instituto De Aeronautica E Espaco (IAE) has been responsible for developing the family of Sonda
sounding rockets and the VLS orbital launcher for the Brazilian national space programme. Sonda 1 was a two-stage solid propellant vehicle that was capable of carrying a 4 kg payload up to 60 to 75 km. It was first launched in 1964, and flown more than 200 times before retirement. Sonda 2 development began in 1966 and there have been about 60 launches, carrying 50 kg payloads to 100 km. Sonda 2 is a single-stage solid propellant vehicle 4.53 m long, with a body diameter of 0.3 m, and weighs 360 kg at launch. The structural weight is 95 kg, propellant weight 237 kg, and the propellant burns for 18 seconds. In 1997, there were still three versions employed, principally for technology-proving flights.
Sonda 3 development began in 1969 and provides a vehicle capable of carrying a 150 kg payload to 650 km altitude, providing three axis payload control and sea recovery. Sonda 3 is a two-stage, solid
propellant launcher with an overall length of 7.0 m, a first stage body diameter of 0.56 m, a second stage diameter of 0.3 m, and a launch weight of 1,520 kg excluding payload. The first stage is 3.79 m long, has a body diameter of 0.56 m, weighs 1,205 kg and the motor has a burn time of 29 seconds. Stage 2 is a modified Sonda 2 designated S20; it is 3.2 m long, has a body diameter of 0.30 m, weighs 320 kg, and the motor has a burn time of 22 seconds. Sonda 3 was first launched in 1976 and there have been about 25 launches in total.
earth orbit. VLS has an overall length of 19.3 m, a body diameter of 1.0 m and weighs 50,000 kg at launch. The first stage is in effect a cluster of four strap-on Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) motors, designated S-43, attached around stage 1. The S-43 SRBs, which are derived from Sonda 4 first-stage assemblies are 9 m long, have a body diameter of 1.0 m and weigh 8,550 kg each at launch. On the prototype models the SRBs had a single clipped delta stabilising fin that provided the vehicle with a four fin tail configuration during the boost phase. The SRBs are ignited simultaneously on the pad and have a burn time of 62 seconds. In the base of each is a flexible nozzle joint that provides up to 3º TVC for three axis control from each motor. The S-43s are jettisoned after burnout. Stage 2 (core stage 1), designated S-43TM, is nested within the cluster of strap-ons. It is 8.1 m long, has a body diameter of 1.0 m and weighs 8,720 kg at launch. It contains 7,184 kg of solid propellant, which is ignited at 23 km altitude, and has a burn time of 59 seconds. A liquid propellant stage 2 is under consideration as a future upgrading. The third stage (core stage 2), designation S-40 TM, is a shortened stage S-43 SRB and is ignited at separation. It is 5.8 m long, has a body diameter of 1.0 m and weighs 5,664 kg at launch. It contains 4,452 kg of solid propellant, and has a burn time of 56 seconds. The fourth stage (core stage 3), designation S-44, is an orbit injection motor newly developed and spin stabilised with a fixed nozzle.
Stage 4 is 1.8 m long, has a body diameter of 1.0 m and weighs 1,025 kg at launch. The motor, which is ignited at 14 minutes 42 seconds after lift-off, contains 835 kg of solid propellant, and has a burn time of 68 seconds. Attitude control is by spin, initiated by solid motors before separation from the
equipment bay. Stage burnout and separation from the payload occurs at 15 minutes 55 seconds after lift-off. The VLS payload assembly is separated by springs following pyrotechnic initiation just after stage 3 ignition, and has a basic weight of 150 kg. There have been test firings of stage 1, 2 and 3 motors, and a trials launch in April 1993 of a VS-40 vehicle comprising stages 2, 3 and 4. The first launch was made in November 1997, but the VLS was destroyed shortly after launch following a booster motor failure. The launch was made from the Alcantara site, with four more test launches planned. The second launch was made in December 1999, and failed when the second-stage motor did not ignite.
UPDATED
A model of the Brazilian VLS displayed at Paris in 1997 (Duncan Lennox)