Star (rocket stage)
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 upper stages, often as apogee kick motors. The number designations refer to the approximate diameter of the fuel casing in inches.
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.
Star 13
The Star 13 is a solid fuel apogee kick motor. It was used on NASA's Anchored Interplanetary Monitoring Platform satellites. Several other versions were developed. Star 13D was used on the Syncom 1, Star 13A on LES 1/2, Aurora, Orbiscal, Lincoln Calibration Sphere 4, S3-2, Solrad 11A/B, SPX plume generator package, Freja, Meteor and Equator-S, Star 13C on AMSAT P3A and Star 13B on AMPTE-CCE payloads.Star 17
The Star 17 is a solid fuel apogee kick motor, first launched in 1963. It was used for payloads such as Radio Astronomy Explorer, SOLRAD and S3 satellites. The Star 17A version was used for orbit circularization on Skynet 1, NATO 1, IMP-H and IMP-J satellites.Star 20 (Altair 3A)
The Star 20 is a solid fuel apogee kick motor, also known as Altair-3A. It was used as a second stage on an Atlas-E/F vehicle launching Stacksat. The TE-M-640 motor is similar to Altair 3, and both are designated by NASA as Altair IIIA.Star 24
The Star 24 is a solid fuel apogee kick motor, first qualified in 1973. It burns an 86% solids carboxyl-terminated polybutadiene -based composite propellant. The "24" designation refers to the approximate diameter of the Titanium fuel casing in inches.Star 26
The Star 26 is an upper stage motor used in Burner II stage of the Sandia Strypi IV vehicle introduced in 1965. The Star 26B variant was used on the Thor-LV2F Burner-2A launcher. Star 26C was used on the DOT sounding rocket.Star 27
The Star 27 is a solid apogee kick motor, with the 27 representing the approximate diameter of the stage in inches. It burns HTPB-based composite propellant with an average erosion rate of.It as used as a second stage on a version of the Atlas E/F rocket, launching the Solwind and Geosat satellites. When used on the Pegasus air-launch rocket payloads are capable of leaving Earth orbit.
A version of the Star 27, designated the 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 27H motor, 462 kg. The Star 27H helped it get to a higher orbit, beyond Earth's magnetosphere.
Star 30
The Star 30 is a solid fuel motor, with the 30 representing the approximate diameter of the stage in inches. Different versions were used as an apogee motor for satellites such as G-STAR, Skynet 4, Koreasat or the HS-376 satellite bus. Star 30E was used by the small ORBEX orbital launcher. A Star 30 booster was also used on the CONTOUR comet probe.Star 31 (Antares 1A)
The Star 31 is a solid fuel motor, with the 31 representing the approximate diameter of the stage in inches. It had a thrust of 60.50 kN and a mass of 1225 kg. It was used as a stage on the WASP missile, Scout X, Scout X-1, Blue Scout Junior, Blue Scout I, Blue Scout II, Scout X-1A and RAM B.Star 37
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 engine and the Burner II used the Thiokol TE-M-364-2.The "-37" designation refers to the approximate diameter of the titanium 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 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, while the motor has been qualified for propellant off-loading to.
A spin-stabilized or thrust-vectoring version of Star 37 is used as the final stage of the Minotaur V launch vehicle.
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.
Star 48
The Star 48 is a type of solid rocket motor developed primarily by Thiokol Propulsion, which was purchased by Orbital ATK in 2001. 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 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. On board the Space Shuttle, the complete stage was referred to as the Payload Assist Module, 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 is known as the Star 48BV, which had its design based off of the Star 48B. It is available, but much less common. A Star 48BV 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. 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, 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.