Back معزز المكوك الفضائي العامل بالوقود الصلب Arabic Coet accelerador sòlid del transbordador espacial Catalan Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Czech Space-Shuttle-Feststoffraketen German Cohetes Aceleradores Sólidos (transbordador espacial) Spanish Space Shuttle'i tahkekütuskiirendi Estonian Propulseur d'appoint à poudre de la navette spatiale américaine French Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster ID Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Italian スペースシャトル固体燃料補助ロケット Japanese

Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster

Space Shuttle SRB
Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) pair, as used for the initial United States Space Shuttle program.
ManufacturerThiokol, later ATK
United Space Boosters Inc., Pratt & Whitney
Country of originUnited States
Used onSpace Shuttle
General characteristics
Height149.16 ft (45.46 m)
Diameter12.17 ft (3.71 m)
Gross mass1,300,000 lb (590 t)
Propellant mass1,100,000 lb (500 t)
Empty mass200,000 lb (91 t)
4-segment SRB
Powered by1
Maximum thrust3,300,000 lbf (15,000 kN) sea level
Specific impulse242 seconds (2.37 km/s)
Burn time123 s
PropellantPBAN-APCP

The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) was the first solid-propellant rocket to be used for primary propulsion on a vehicle used for human spaceflight.[1] A pair of these provided 85% of the Space Shuttle's thrust at liftoff and for the first two minutes of ascent. After burnout, they were jettisoned and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean where they were recovered, examined, refurbished, and reused.

The Space Shuttle SRBs were the most powerful solid rocket motors to ever launch humans.[2] The Space Launch System (SLS) SRBs, adapted from the shuttle, surpassed it as the most powerful solid rocket motors ever flown, after the launch of the Artemis 1 mission in 2022.[3][4] Each Space Shuttle SRB provided a maximum 14.7 MN (3,300,000 lbf) thrust,[5] roughly double the most powerful single-combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine ever flown, the Rocketdyne F-1. With a combined mass of about 1,180 t (1,160 long tons; 1,300 short tons), they comprised over half the mass of the Shuttle stack at liftoff. The motor segments of the SRBs were manufactured by Thiokol of Brigham City, Utah, which was later purchased by ATK. The prime contractor for most other components of the SRBs, as well as for the integration of all the components and retrieval of the spent SRBs, was USBI, a subsidiary of Pratt & Whitney. This contract was subsequently transitioned to United Space Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Out of 270 SRBs launched over the Shuttle program, all but four were recovered – those from STS-4 (due to a parachute malfunction) and STS-51-L (terminated by the range during the Challenger disaster).[6] Over 5,000 parts were refurbished for reuse after each flight. The final set of SRBs that launched STS-135 included parts that had flown on 59 previous missions, including STS-1.[7] Recovery also allowed post-flight examination of the boosters,[8] identification of anomalies, and incremental design improvements.[9]

  1. ^ Dunbar, Brian (March 5, 2006). "Solid Rocket Boosters". NASA. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  2. ^ Hale, Wayne; Lane, Helen; Chapline, Gail; Lulla, Kamlesh (April 7, 2011). Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle, 1971-2010. Government Printing Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-16-086847-4.
  3. ^ "Liftoff! NASA's Artemis I Mega Rocket Launches Orion to Moon". NASA. November 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "Space Launch System Solid Rocket Booster" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  5. ^ "Space Launchers - Space Shuttle". www.braeunig.us. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "One year on – Review notes superb performance of STS-135's SRBs". NASASpaceFlight.com. July 8, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  7. ^ "Booster stacking finished for final shuttle flight". Spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  8. ^ "STS-134 IFA Review: SRBs and RSRMs Perform Admirably". NASASpaceFlight.com. June 27, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  9. ^ "Reusable Solid Rocket Motor—Accomplishments, Lessons, and a Culture of Success" (PDF). ntrs.nasa.gov. September 27, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2015.

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