>Serols: Reverted edits by 168.212.252.42 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)

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Reverted edits by 168.212.252.42 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)

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{{Short description|Rocket used to augment the thrust of a larger rocket}}
{{more citations needed|date= December 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
[[File:Delta II GEM 40 Booster.jpg|thumb|A [[Graphite-Epoxy Motor|GEM]]-40 [[modular rocket|strap-on]] booster for a [[Delta II]] launch vehicle.]]

A '''booster''' [[rocket]] (or engine) is either the first stage of a [[multistage rocket|multistage]] [[launch vehicle]], or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning [[sustainer engine|sustainer rocket]]s to augment the [[space vehicle]]'s takeoff thrust and payload capability.<ref name="nasa-staging">{{Cite web |url=https://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/rktstage.html |title=Rocket Staging |publisher=NASA |location=US |access-date=October 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602123849/https://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/rktstage.html |archive-date=June 2, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_SRB.html |title=Solid Rocket Boosters |publisher=NASA |location=US |access-date=October 12, 2018}}</ref> Boosters are traditionally necessary to launch [[spacecraft]] into [[low Earth orbit]] (absent a [[single-stage-to-orbit]] design), and are especially important for a space vehicle to go beyond Earth orbit.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} The booster is dropped to fall back to Earth once its fuel is expended, a point known as ''booster engine cut-off'' (BECO).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/spacecraft/launch.html |title=Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – Launch Vehicle Summary |first=Tony |last=Greicius |publisher=NASA |location=US |date=March 8, 2011 |access-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref>

Following [[separation event|booster separation]], the rest of the launch vehicle continues flight with its core or upper-stage engines. The booster may be recovered, refurbished and reused, as was the case of the steel casings used for the [[Space Shuttle]] [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|Solid Rocket Booster]]s.<ref name="nasa-staging" />

==Drop-away engines==
The [[SM-65 Atlas]] rocket used three engines, one of which was fixed to the fuel tank, and two of which were mounted on a skirt which dropped away at BECO. This was used as an [[Intercontinental ballistic missile]] (ICBM); to launch the manned [[Project Mercury]] capsule into orbit; and as the first stage of the [[Atlas-Agena]] and [[Atlas-Centaur]] launch vehicles.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

==Strap-on==
{{See also|Modular rocket}}
Several launch vehicles, including [[GSLV Mark III]] and [[Titan IV]], employ strap-on boosters. [[NASA]]'s [[Space Shuttle]] was the first crewed vehicle to use strap-on boosters. Launch vehicles like [[Delta IV Heavy]] and [[Falcon Heavy]] employ strap-on [[liquid rocket booster]]s.

==Recoverable ==
The [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster#Descent and recovery|booster casings]] for the [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster]]s were recovered and refurbished for reuse from 1981–2011 as part of the [[Space Shuttle program]].

In a new development program initiated in 2011, [[SpaceX]] developed [[SpaceX reusable launch system development program|reusable first stages]] of their [[Falcon 9 rocket]]. After launching the second stage and the payload, the booster [[Return To Launch Site|returns to launch site]] or flies to a [[Autonomous spaceport drone ship|drone ship]] and [[VTVL|lands vertically]]. After landing multiple boosters both on land and on drone ships in 2015–2016, a landed stage was first reflown in March 2017: [[Falcon 9 booster B1021|Rocket core B1021]] that had been used to launch a re-supply mission to the [[International Space Station|ISS]] when new in April 2016 was subsequently used to launch the satellite [[SES-10]] in March 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/30/15117096/spacex-launch-reusable-rocket-success-falcon-9-landing |title=SpaceX makes aerospace history with successful launch and landing of used rocket |first=Loren |last=Grush |work=The Verge |location=US |date=March 30, 2017 |access-date=April 15, 2017}}</ref> The program was intended to reduce launch prices significantly, and by 2018, SpaceX had reduced launch prices on a flight-proven boosters to {{USD|50 million}}, the [[Space launch market competition|lowest price in the industry]] for [[Medium-lift launch vehicle|medium-lift]] launch services.<ref name=nsf20180517>{{cite news |last=Baylor |first=Michael |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/05/block-5-spacex-increase-launch-cadence-lower-prices/ |title=With Block 5, SpaceX to increase launch cadence and lower prices |work=[[NASASpaceFlight.com]] |date=2018-05-17 |access-date=2018-05-22 |quote=Due to the Block 5’s reusability, SpaceX has lowered the standard price of a Falcon 9 launch from $62 million to about $50 million. This move further strengthens SpaceX’s competitiveness in the commercial launch market. In fact, even at the $62 million price point, SpaceX was already starting to win contracts that would have previously gone to competitors such as Arianespace. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518060725/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/05/block-5-spacex-increase-launch-cadence-lower-prices/ |archive-date=2018-05-18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By August 2019, the [[List of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters|recovery and reuse of Falcon 9 boosters]] had become routine, with booster landings/recovery being attempted on more than 90 percent of all SpaceX flights, and successful landings and recoveries occurring 65 times out of 75 attempts. In total 25 recovered boosters have been refurbished and subsequently flown a second time by late 2020, with several having been flown a third time as well.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

In late 2020, [[Rocket Lab]] guided the booster of their [[Rocket Lab Electron|Electron]] rocket for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with a [[parafoil]] after launching the [[Rocket Lab|Return to Sender mission]], as part of a program to catch the booster with a helicopter and reuse it on later missions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How to bring a rocket back from space|url=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/updates/how-to-bring-a-rocket-back-from-space/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Rocket Lab|language=en}}</ref>

==Use in aviation==
Rocket boosters used on aircraft are known as [[JATO|jet-assisted take-off (JATO)]] rockets.

Various [[missile]]s also use solid rocket boosters. Examples are:
*[[2K11 Krug|2K11 (SA-4)]] which uses SRBs as a first stage, and then a [[ramjet]].
*[[S-200 Angara/Vega/Dubna|S-200 (SA-5)]] which uses SRBs as the first stage, followed by a liquid fuel rocket.
*Surface-launched versions of the [[turbojet]]-powered [[Boeing Harpoon]] use an SRB.

== See also ==
* [[Liquid rocket booster]]
* [[Booster Systems Engineer]] - a support position at NASA's mission control, referred to by call sign ''BOOSTER''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rocket propulsion]]
[[Category:Boosters (rocketry)]]

Booster (rocketry) - Revision history

>Serols: Reverted edits by 168.212.252.42 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)