The Star is a family of US solid-propellant rocket motors originally developed by Thiokol and used by many space propulsion and launch vehicle stages. They are used almost exclusively as an upper stage, often as an apogee kick motor.
Three Star 37 stages, and one Star 48 stage, were launched on solar escape trajectories; fast enough to leave the Sun's orbit and out into interstellar space, where barring the low chance of colliding with debris, they will travel past other stars in the Milky Way galaxy and survive potentially intact for millions of years.
The Star 24 (TE-M-604) is a solid fuel apogee kick motor, first qualified in 1973. [1] It burns an 86% solids carboxyl-terminated polybutadiene (CTPB) [ broken anchor ]-based composite propellant. [1] [2]
Name (Thiokol#) | Mass (kg) | Prop. mass fract. | Prop. | Casing | Thrust, vac. (kN) | Imp. | Burn (s) | Diam. (m) | Length (m) | Remark | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Empty | Prop. | Spec., Isp (s) | Tot. (kNs) | |||||||||
Star-24 (TE-M-604) | 218.2 | 18.33 | 199.9 | 0.92 | Solid | Titanium | ? | 282.9 | 560.5 | 29.6 | 0.62 | 1.03 | |
Star-24C (TE-M-604-4) | 239.3 | 19.73 | 219.5 | 0.92 | Solid | Titanium | ? | 282.3 | 613.9 | 28.0 | 0.62 | 1.07 |
![]() A Star-27 kick motor with nozzle for IBEX | |
Country of origin | United States |
---|---|
Solid-fuel motor |
The Star 27 is a solid apogee kick motor, with the 27 representing the approximate diameter of the stage in inches. [3] It burns HTPB-based composite propellant with an average erosion rate of 0.0011 inches per second (0.028 mm/s). [4] [3] When used on the Pegasus air-launch rocket payloads are capable of leaving Earth orbit. [3]
A version of the Star 27, designated Star 27H, [5] was used in the launch of the IBEX spacecraft. [6] The spacecraft had a mass of 105 kg by itself and together with its Star 27 motor, 462 kg. [6] The Star 27H helped it get to a higher orbit, beyond Earth's magnetosphere. [6]
![]() TE-M-364 | |
Country of origin | United States |
---|---|
Date | 1963-present |
Manufacturer | Thiokol |
Application | Upper stage/Spacecraft propulsion |
Predecessor | Star 27 |
Successor | Star 48 |
Status | Active |
Solid-fuel motor | |
Configuration | |
Chamber | 1 |
Performance | |
Thrust, vacuum | 33.600 kN (7,554 lbf) |
Specific impulse, vacuum | (161,512 N•s/kg) |
Dimensions | |
Length | 2.27 m (7.44 ft) |
Diameter | 0.66 m (2.16 ft) |
Dry weight | 113 kg (249 lb) |
Used in | |
Thor (rocket family), Delta (rocket family), upper stage |
The Star 37 was first used as the engine for the Thor-Burner upper stage in 1965. The Burner I used the Thiokol FW-4 (TE 364-1) engine and the Burner 2 used the Thiokol (TE-M-364-2). [7]
The "-37" designation refers to the approximate diameter of the fuel casing in inches; Thiokol had also manufactured other motors such as the Star-40 and Star 48. Internally, Thiokol's designation was TE-M-364 for early versions, TE-M-714 for later ones, and TE-M-783 for a special HTPB model used for FLTSATCOM launches.
Subtypes are given one or more letter suffixes after the diameter number, or a trailing number (i.e., "-2") after the internal designation. Not surprisingly, the "T" prefix stands for Thiokol, and the following letter refers to the company division that developed the rocket motor. In this case, "M" refers to the Magna, UT Division. "E" refers to the Elkton, MD division.
The Star 37FM rocket motor was developed and qualified for use as an apogee kick motor on FLTSATCOM. The motor is a replacement for the Star 37E Delta, which has been discontinued. The Nozzle assembly uses a 3D carbon-carbon throat and a carbon-phenolic exit cone. Maximum propellant weight is 2350 pounds, while the motor has been qualified for propellant off-loading to 2257 pounds.
A spin-stabilized or thrust-vectoring version of Star 37 is used as the final stage of the Minotaur V launch vehicle. [8] [9]
The Pioneer 10 & 11, and Voyager 1 & 2 Propulsion Modules used Star 37E motors; each is now on a similar interstellar trajectory to its companion probe, and is set to leave the Solar System (except the Pioneer 11 stage, which is thought to have remained in solar orbit [10] ).
Name (Thiokol#) | Mass (kg) | Prop. mass fract. | Prop. | Casing | Thrust, vac. (kN) | Imp. | Burn (s) | Diam. (m) | Length (m) | Remark | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Empty | Prop. | Spec., Isp (s) | Tot. (kNs) | |||||||||
Star-37 (TE-M-364-1) | 621.2 | 62.7 | 558.4 | 0.899 | Solid | ? | 43.50 | 260.0 | 1584.46 | 42 | 0.93 | 0.80 | |
Star-37B (TE-M-364-2) | 718.4 | 64.7 | 653.7 | 0.910 | Solid | ? | ? | 291.0 | 1858.91 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37C (TE-M-364-18) | 1047.5 | 82.8 | 964.7 | 0.921 | Solid | ? | ? | 285.5 | 2707.19 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37D (TE-M-364-3) | 718.4 | 64.7 | 653.7 | 0.910 | Solid | ? | ? | 266.0 | 1858.91 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37E (TE-M-364-4) | 1122.7 | 83.1 | 1039.6 | 0.926 | Solid | ? | ? | 283.6 | 2910.03 | ? | 0.93 | ? | Discontinued |
Star-37F (TE-M-364-19) | 934.1 | 67.3 | 866.8 | 0.928 | Solid | ? | ? | 286.0 | 2444.46 | ? | 0.93 | ? | Discontinued |
Star-37FM (TE-M-783) | 1147.4 | 81.5 | 1065.9 | 0.929 | HTPB | Titanium | 47.26 | 289.8 | 3051.35 | 63 | 0.93 | 1.69 | Developed and qualified for use as an apogee kick motor on FLTSATCOM |
Star-37G (TE-M-364-11) | 1152.4 | 86.4 | 1065.9 | 0.925 | Solid | ? | ? | 289.9 | 2988.36 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37N (TE-M-364-14) | 622.9 | 63.5 | 559.3 | 0.898 | Solid | ? | ? | 290.0 | 1590.24 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37S (TE-M-364-15) | 711.4 | 53.4 | 658.0 | 0.925 | Solid | ? | ? | 287.3 | 1872.43 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37X (TE-M-714-1) | 1150.0 | 82.8 | 1067.2 | 0.928 | Solid | Titanium | 51.10 | 295.6 | 3047.69 | 60 | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37XE (TE-M-714-4) | ? | ? | ? | ? | Solid | Titanium | ? | ? | ? | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37XF (TE-M-714-6) | 953.2 | 67.7 | 885.4 | 0.929 | Solid | Titanium | ? | 290.0 | 2542.03 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37XF (TE-M-714-8) | 882.5 | 67.1 | 815.4 | 0.924 | Solid | Titanium | ? | 291.1 | 2342.74 | ? | 0.93 | ? | |
Star-37XFP (TE-M-714-17/18) | 955.3 | 71.7 | 883.6 | 0.925 | HTPB | Titanium | 38.03 | 290.0 | 2537.49 | 67 | 0.93 | 1.50 | Qualified as the orbit insertion motor for Boeing's Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), and as the apogee motor for the RCA SATCOM Ku-Band satellite. |
Star-37Y (TE-M-714-2) | 1152.1 | 80.6 | 1071.4 | 0.930 | Solid | Titanium | ? | 297.0 | 3118.20 | ? | 0.93 | ? |
![]() Star-48B rocket motor | |
Country of origin | United States |
---|---|
Date | 1982 - present |
Manufacturer | Thiokol |
Predecessor | Star 37 |
Solid-fuel motor |
The Star 48 is a type of solid rocket motor developed primarily by Thiokol Propulsion, which was purchased by Orbital ATK in 2001. [11] In 2018, Orbital ATK in turn was acquired by Northrop Grumman.
The "48" designation refers to the approximate diameter of the fuel casing in inches; Thiokol had also manufactured other motors such as the Star 37 and Star 30. Internally, Thiokol's designation was TE-M-711 for early versions, and TE-M-799 for later ones. Subtypes are given one or more letter suffixes after the diameter number, or a trailing number (i.e., "-2") after the internal designation. The "T" prefix stands for Thiokol, and the following letter refers to the company division that developed the rocket motor. In this case, "E" refers to the Elkton, MD division and the "M" stands for motor.
The most common use of the Star 48 was as the final stage of the Delta II launch vehicles. Other launchers such as ULA's Atlas 551 have also incorporated the motor, but with lower frequency. Onboard the Space Shuttle, the complete stage (motor plus accessories) was referred to as the Payload Assist Module (PAM), as the Shuttle could only take satellites to low Earth orbit. Because geostationary orbit is much more lucrative, the additional stage was needed for the final leg of the journey. On such missions, the stage was spin-stabilized. A turntable, mounted in the shuttle payload bay or atop the previous Delta stage, spun the PAM and payload to approximately 60 rpm prior to release.
Usually after motor burnout and just prior to satellite release the spin is canceled out using a yo-yo de-spin technique.
A non-spinning, thrust-vectoring version of the Star 48 is available ("Star 48BV"), but much less common. A thrust-vectoring Star 48 is the final stage of the Minotaur IV+ launch vehicle.
A Star 48B motor used in the 3rd stage of the New Horizons probe was the first part of the New Horizons mission to reach Jupiter, crossing Pluto's orbit in 2015 at a distance of 200 million kilometers. [12] It is now set to leave the Solar System, traveling on a similar interstellar trajectory to its companion probe for the indefinite future.
In 2013 a Star 48GXV was tested for the Parker Solar Probe mission as the upper stage on an Atlas V 551 vehicle, [13] but the development was canceled, in favor of a Delta IV Heavy / Star 48BV combination. The Star 48GXV boasted a carbon composite casing and nozzle, enabling it to operate at triple the chamber pressure of an ordinary Star 48. It also featured electro-mechanical actuators to gimbal the nozzle, along with digital flight controls. [14]
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; The inception of gunpowder rockets in warfare can be credited to ancient Chinese, and in the 13th century, the Mongols played a pivotal role in facilitating their westward adoption.
Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas, and sometimes known as the Thorad Delta 1. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family, derived directly from the Delta 3000, and entered service in 1989. There were two main variants, the Delta 6000 and Delta 7000, with the latter also having "Light" and "Heavy" subvariants. During its career, Delta II flew several notable payloads, including 24 Global Positioning System (GPS) Block II satellites, several dozen NASA payloads, and 60 Iridium communication satellites. The rocket flew its final mission, ICESat-2, on 15 September 2018, earning the launch vehicle a streak of 100 successful missions in a row, with the last failure being GPS IIR-1 in 1997. In the late 1990s, Delta II was developed further into the unsuccessful Delta III, which was in turn developed into the more capable and successful Delta IV, though the latter shares little heritage with the original Thor and Delta rockets.
The Delta rocket family was a versatile range of American rocket-powered expendable launch systems that provided space launch capability in the United States from 1960 to 2024. Japan also launched license-built derivatives from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 Delta rockets were launched with a 95% success rate. The series was phased out in favor of the Vulcan Centaur, with the Delta IV Heavy rocket's last launch occurring on April 9, 2024.
Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American aerospace and arms manufacturer headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The company operated across 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK revenue in fiscal year 2014 was about US$4.8 billion.
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. 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.
Thiokol and Northrop Grumman was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. Its name is a portmanteau of the Greek words for sulfur and glue, an allusion to the company's initial product, Thiokol polymer.
In aerospace engineering, spin stabilization is a method of stabilizing a satellite or launch vehicle by means of spin, i.e. rotation along the longitudinal axis. The concept originates from conservation of angular momentum as applied to ballistics, where the spin is commonly obtained by means of rifling. For most satellite applications this approach has been superseded by three-axis stabilization.
The Payload Assist Module (PAM) is a modular upper stage designed and built by McDonnell Douglas (Boeing), using Thiokol Star-series solid propellant rocket motors. The PAM was used with the Space Shuttle, Delta, and Titan launchers and carried satellites from low Earth orbit to a geostationary transfer orbit or an interplanetary course. The payload was spin stabilized by being mounted on a rotating plate. Originally developed for the Space Shuttle, different versions of the PAM were developed:
Athena was a 1990s Lockheed Martin expendable launch system which underwent several name changes in its lifetime.
The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), originally designated the Interim Upper Stage, was a two-stage, solid-fueled space launch system developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force beginning in 1976 for raising payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits or interplanetary trajectories following launch aboard a Titan 34D or Titan IV rocket as its upper stage, or from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle as a space tug.
The Star 48 is the largest of a family of solid rocket motors used by many space propulsion and launch vehicle stages, almost exclusively as an upper stage. It was developed primarily by Thiokol Propulsion and after several mergers, is manufactured by Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems division. A Star 48B stage is also one of the few man-made items sent on escape trajectories out of the Solar System, although it is derelict since its use. The Star 48B variant was the PAM-D upper stage used on the retired Delta II rocket.
Castor is a family of solid-fuel rocket stages and boosters built by Thiokol and used on a variety of launch vehicles. They were initially developed as the second-stage motor of the Scout rocket. The design was based on the MGM-29 Sergeant, a surface-to-surface missile developed for the United States Army at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Waxwing was a British solid rocket motor used for apogee kick as the 3rd (upper) stage of the Black Arrow satellite launch vehicles. It was also known as Black Arrow-3. Waxwing was used to successfully place the Prospero X-3 satellite into low Earth orbit on 28 October 1971, Britain's only satellite launched on an indigenously developed launch vehicle. Before being separated from the Black Arrow launch vehicle, it would be spun on a turntable using six radial 'Imp' solid rocket motors to spin stabilise the satellite. This means that any discrepancy in thrust in any direction would be cancelled out. The Waxwing motor is now out of production.
Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Space Systems, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle. The first orbital launch occurred on 26 September 2010 with the SBSS satellite for the United States Air Force.
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Orbital ATK Inc. was an American aerospace manufacturer and defense industry company. It was formed in February 9, 2015 from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alliant Techsystems (ATK). Orbital ATK designed, built, and delivered rocket engines, military vehicles, firearms, autocannons, missiles, ammunition, precision-guided munitions, satellites, missile approach warning systems, launch vehicles and spacecraft. The company was acquired by Northrop Grumman on June 6, 2018. The former Orbital ATK operations were renamed Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems and operated as a division until January 1, 2020 when a reorganization merged the operations into the company's other divisions.
OmegA was a medium-lift to heavy-lift launch vehicle concept that spent several years in development by Northrop Grumman during 2016–2020, with that development substantially funded by the U.S. government. OmegA was intended for launching U.S. national security satellites, as part of the U.S. Department of the Air Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) replacement program.
BSAT-2b, was a geostationary communications satellite ordered by B-SAT which was designed and manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation on the STAR-1 platform. It was designed to be stationed on the 110° East orbital slot along its companion BSAT-2a where it would provide redundant high definition direct television broadcasting across Japan.
Minotaur VI is a proposed expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is a member of the Minotaur rocket family and a higher-performance derivative of the Minotaur IV. The base Minotaur VI consists of a Minotaur IV+ rocket with an additional SR118 first stage motor for improved performance. Minotaur VI is optimized for low Earth orbit (LEO) missions, and can send 3,144 kilograms (6,931 lb) to such an orbit. The Minotaur VI+ variant, however, features a Star 37FM sixth stage and is primarily intended for higher-energy missions.
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