Star 37
TE-M-364
|
|
| Country of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Date | 1963-present |
| Application | Upper stage/Spacecraft propulsion |
| Predecessor | Star 27 |
| Successor | Star 48 |
| Status | Active |
| Solid-fuel motor | |
| Configuration | |
| Chamber | 1 |
| Performance | |
| Thrust (vac.) | 33.600 kN (7,554 lbf) |
| Isp (vac.) | (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 | |
Star-48B rocket motor
|
|
| Country of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Date | 1982 - present |
| Manufacturer | Thiokol |
| Predecessor | Star 37 |
| Solid-fuel motor | |
The Star is a family of American solid-fuel rocket motor used by many space propulsion and launch vehicle stages. It is used almost exclusively as an upper stage.
The Star 27 is a solid apogee kick motor. It burns HTPB fuel with an average erosion rate of 0.0011 inches per second. When used on the Pegasus air-launch rocket payloads are capable of leaving Earth orbit. A modified version, designated Star 27H, was used in the launch of the IBEX spacecraft. The spacecraft had a mass of 105 kg by itself and together with its Star 27 motor, 462 kg. The Star 27H helped it get to a higher orbit, beyond Earth's magnetosphere.
The Star 37 was first used as the engine for the Thor-Burner upper stage. The Burner I used the Thiokol FW-4 (TE 364-1) engine and the Burner 2 used the Thiokol (TE-M-364-2).
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.
The Star 37XFP rocket motor has been qualified as the orbit insertion motor for Rockwell International's (now Boeing) Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), and as the apogee motor for the RCA SATCOM Ku-Band satellite. The Star 37XFP motor can be used as a replacement for the Star 37F motor, which has been discontinued.
A spin-stablized or thrust-vectoring verion of Star 37 is used as the final stage of the Minotaur V launch vehicle.
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Wikipedia