B24-B recoverable pump-fed booster

 aircraft, drawings, history, projects, rockets, spacecraft
Nov 212011
 

A North American Rockwell design from March of 1971 for a Phase B Shuttle design. The Orbiter and the External Tank are certainly recognizable, but the solid rocket boosters are here replaced with a single liquid propellant booster located underneath the external tank. Equipped with four uprated F-1 rockets engines, it had the same tank diameter as the S-IC stage from the Saturn V. The Orbiters engines would ignite after first stage separation.  With a gross liftoff weight of 5,274,000 pounds, payload was 40,000 pounds into polar orbit. Splashdown weight of the booster was 460,000 pounds.

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 Posted by at 12:04 am

  3 Responses to “B24-B recoverable pump-fed booster”

  1. Michel Van says:
    November 21, 2011 at 11:41 am

    i have a question about Booster
    who was the booster to stabilize during free fall ?

  2. admin says:
    November 21, 2011 at 11:52 am

    The large fins at the tail were needed to move the CP far enough aft to make it fall nose-first. The aft third or so of the fins were split speed brakes similar to the rudder on the shuttle.

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