Not really sure if this belongs here or not but does anyone know how many Castor 120 stages are left, and if there aren't any, what sort of performance increase to Minotaur-C the Castor 120XL brings?
It was nice to see this fly successfully.
From 2016 OA Motor Catalog Data:
Note: Castor-120XL is the civilian version based on the newly developed LCS I (Large Class Stage I) for military and government applications.
Castor 120MOTOR DIMENSIONS
Motor diameter, in.................................................92.0
Overall motor length (including nozzle), in............355
Nozzle exit cone diameter, in................................59.7
MOTOR PERFORMANCE (70°F VACUUM,
VACUUM)
Burn time, sec.......................................................79.4
Maximum thrust, lbf........................................440,000
Specific impulse, lbf-sec/lbm…..............................280
Total impulse, lbf-sec.................................30,000,000
Burn time average thrust, lbf..........................379,000
Castor 120XLMOTOR DIMENSIONS
Motor diameter, in.................................................92.1
Overall motor length (including nozzle), in.........378.3
Nozzle exit cone diameter, in................................59.8
MOTOR PERFORMANCE (70°F VACUUM,
VACUUM)
Burn time, sec.......................................................83.5
Maximum thrust, lbf........................................458,500
Effective specific impulse, lbf-sec/lbm…............279.1
Total impulse, lbf-sec.................................31,892,000
Burn time average thrust, lbf..........................381,701