The final set of SRBs that launched STS-135 included parts that flew on 59 previous missions, Over 5,000 parts were refurbished for reuse after each flight. Out of 270 SRBs launched over the Shuttle program, all but four were recovered – those from STS-4 (due to a parachute malfunction) and This configuration provides high thrust at ignition and then reduces the thrust byĪpproximately a third 50 seconds after lift-off to prevent overstressing the vehicle during maximum dynamic pressure. The propellant is an 11-point star- shaped perforation in theįorward motor segment and a double- truncated- cone perforation in each of the aft segments and aft closure. The propellant mixture consists of an ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer, 69.6 percent by weight), aluminum (fuel, 16 percent), iron oxide (aĬatalyst, 0.4 percent), a polymer (a binder that holds the mixture together, 12.04 percent), and an epoxy curing agent (1.96 percent). Primary elements of each booster are the motor (including case, propellant, igniter, and nozzle), structure, separation systems, operationalįlight instrumentation, recovery avionics, pyrotechnics, deceleration system, thrust vector control system and range safety destruct system. With its instantaneous thrust, the equipment can help deliver high-powered missiles to various military platforms and serve as a booster for satellite launchers. This is the first time to surpass 100 tons, he said, as quoted by ABC News. Weight of each SRB is approximately 192,000 pounds. For solid rocket engines, the gunpowder load was several hundred kilograms, several tons, or dozens of tons. The propellant alone for each solid rocket motor weighs approximately 1,100,000 pounds. The Space Shuttle SRB are the largest and most powerful solid- propellant motors ever flown and are the first designed for reuse, each isġ49.16 feet long and 12.17 feet in diameter and weighs approximately 1,300,000 pounds at launch. After burnout, they were jettisoned and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean where they were recovered, examined, Solid Rocket Boosters: Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures the AJ-60A strap-on solid rocket booster motors that are used to provide additional thrust at liftoff.
Each booster has a thrust of approximately 3,300,000 pounds at launch. Shuttle used a matched pair of Solid Rocket Boosters to provide 71.4 percent of the thrust to lift the space shuttle off the pad and continued through the first-stage ascent up to an altitude ofġ50,000 feet. If unmitigated, these waves have the potential to damage the vehicle and possibly cause loss of mission or crew. United Space Alliance (booster) ATK Thiokol Propulsion (motor)Ī key component of the Space Shuttle, each NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) will send astronauts back to the Moon in the next few years, partially powered by two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) that generate significant ignition overpressure (IOP) waves at launch.