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;they were used in warfare by the Arabs,Chinese,Persians,Mongols,and Indians as early as the 13th century.
The Juno I was a four-stage American space launch vehicle,used to launch lightweight payloads into low Earth orbit. The launch vehicle was used between January 1958 to December 1959. The launch vehicle was a member of the Redstone launch vehicle family,and was derived from the Jupiter-C sounding rocket. It is commonly confused with the Juno II launch vehicle,which was derived from the PGM-19 Jupiter medium-range ballistic missile. In 1958,a Juno I launch vehicle was used to launch America's first satellite,Explorer 1.
Project HARP,short for High Altitude Research Project,was a joint venture of the United States Department of Defense and Canada's Department of National Defence created with the goal of studying ballistics of re-entry vehicles and collecting upper atmospheric data for research. Unlike conventional space launching methods that rely on rockets,HARP instead used very large guns to fire projectiles into the atmosphere at extremely high speeds.
Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American aerospace,defense,and sporting goods company with its headquarters in Arlington County,Virginia,in the United States. The company operated in 22 states,Puerto Rico,and other countries. ATK's revenue in the 2014 fiscal year was about US$4.78 billion.
The Black Brant is a family of Canadian-designed sounding rockets originally built by Bristol Aerospace,since absorbed by Magellan Aerospace in Winnipeg,Manitoba. Over 800 Black Brants of various versions have been launched since they were first produced in 1961,and the type remains one of the most popular sounding rockets. They have been repeatedly used by the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
Pegasus is an air-launched launch vehicle developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) and now built and launched by Northrop Grumman. Pegasus is the world's first privately developed orbital launch vehicle. Capable of carrying small payloads of up to 443 kg (977 lb) into low Earth orbit,Pegasus first flew in 1990 and remains active as of 2021. The vehicle consists of three solid propellant stages and an optional monopropellant fourth stage. Pegasus is released from its carrier aircraft at approximately 12,000 m (39,000 ft),and its first stage has a wing and a tail to provide lift and attitude control while in the atmosphere. Notably,the first stage does not have a thrust vector control (TVC) system.
Orbital Sciences Corporation was an American company specializing in the design,manufacture,and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial,military and other government customers. In 2014,Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems to create a new company called Orbital ATK,Inc.,which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. The remnants of the former Orbital Sciences Corporation today are a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman,known as Northrop Grumman Space Systems.
Lockheed Martin Space is one of the four major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It has its headquarters in Littleton,Colorado,with additional sites in Valley Forge,Pennsylvania;Sunnyvale,California;Santa Cruz,California;Huntsville,Alabama;and elsewhere in the United States and United Kingdom. The division currently employs about 16,000 people,and its most notable products are commercial and military satellites,space probes,missile defense systems,NASA's Orion spacecraft,and the Space Shuttle external tank.
Aries is an American sounding rocket and target rocket,developed by Space Vector Corporation from retired LGM-30 Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) stages for use by the United States Air Force and NASA. Taken over by Orbital Sciences Corporation,Aries,as the Target Test Vehicle,remains in use.
The Minotaur is a family of United States solid fuel launch vehicles derived from converted Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). They are built by Northrop Grumman via contract with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Directorate (SMC/SD) as part of the Air Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program which converts retired Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles into space and test launch systems for U.S. government agencies.
Thor was a US space launch vehicle derived from the PGM-17 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile. The Thor rocket was the first member of the Delta rocket family of space launch vehicles. The last launch of a direct derivative of the Thor missile occurred in 2018 as the first stage of the final Delta II.
Discoverer 1 was the first of a series of satellites which were part of the CORONA reconnaissance satellite program. It was launched on a Thor-Agena A rocket on 28 February 1959 at 21:49:16 GMT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was a prototype of the KH-1 satellite,but did not contain either a camera or a film capsule. It was the first satellite launched toward the South Pole in an attempt to achieve a polar orbit,but was unsuccessful. A CIA report,later declassified,concluded that "Today,most people believe the Discoverer 1 landed somewhere near the South Pole".
The RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) is a ship-based surface-to-air missile system used by the United States Navy to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles as a part of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Although primarily designed as an anti-ballistic missile,the SM-3 has also been employed in an anti-satellite capacity against a satellite at the lower end of low Earth orbit. The SM-3 is primarily used and tested by the United States Navy and also operated by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
A number of suborbital spaceflights were conducted during 2008. These consist mostly of sounding rocket missions and missile tests,and include other flights such as an ASAT firing. Between the start of the year and 16 July,at least 43 publicly announced suborbital spaceflights were conducted,the first of them on 11 January.
The Terrier Orion sounding rocket is a combination of the Terrier booster rocket with the Orion rocket used as a second stage. This spin stabilized configuration is most often used by the Goddard Space Flight Center,who operate out of the Wallops Flight Facility for sounding rocket operations. The system supports payloads ranging from 200 to 800 pounds,and is capable of achieving altitudes as high as 120 miles (200 km),but at least 50 miles (80 km),depending on payload size.
The XMQR-13A Ballistic Missile Target System (BMTS) was an unguided target rocket developed by the United States Army during the 1960s,intended for use in the development of missile defense systems. Utilising off-the-shelf parts in four different configurations,the BMTS was utilised in a series of launches in the late 1960s supporting tests of several missile systems.
The Creative Research On Weapons or Crow program was an experimental missile project developed by the United States Navy's Naval Air Missile Test Center during the late 1950s. Intended to evaluate the solid-fueled integral rocket/ramjet (SFIRR) method of propulsion as well as solid-fueled ramjet engines,flight tests were conducted during the early 1960s with mixed success.
The Terrier Malemute is a two-stage American sounding rocket typically used for smaller payloads. Both the Terrier first stage and the Malemute second stage use solid fuel. The Terrier burns for approximately 5.2 seconds,and the Malemute burns for approximately 21.5 seconds. The first stage booster consists of a surplus Navy Terrier MK 12 Mod 1 rocket motor with four 0.22 m2 (340 sq in) fin panels arranged in a cruciform configuration. The Terrier rocket booster has a diameter of 460 mm (18 in). The second stage solid rocket is a Thiokol Malemute TU-758 rocket motor,specially designed for high altitude research rocket applications. Apogee is approximately 400 km (220 nmi) for a 230 kg (510 lb) payload or 700 km (380 nmi) for a 41 kg (90 lb) payload. For a payload weight of 200 lb (91 kg),the acceleration during the boost phase is 26 g. Its first flight was on November 11,1974,from Barking Sands. Other launch sites have included Poker Flat,Wallops Island and Fort Yukon,Alaska.
Space Vector Corporation (SVC) is a United States-based company that provides aerospace products and services to government and commercial customers. Space Vector is headquartered in Chatsworth,California and is a privately held small business. Its primary products are flight safety and system batteries,GPS tracking systems,custom avionics and structures,attitude control systems,pneumatic components,and separation systems. Space Vector also provides launch services as a prime contractor under the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Sounding Rocket Program (SRP-3) which includes performing vehicle integration activities,end-to-end system testing,payload integration,launch operations,and mission analysis and design.
The Naval Research Laboratory Flyrt,or Flying Radar Target,was a small electric-powered unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory to serve as an expendable radar decoy for the defense of United States Navy ships. Tested in the fall of 1993,it was considered successful but was not ordered into production.
