Launch Vehicle

Space Shuttle

retiredReusable

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Specifications

Status: retired
Height: 56.1 m
Diameter: 8 m
Mass: 2,030,000 kg
Stages: 2
Thrust: 28,200 kN
Payload to LEO: 27,500 kg
First flight: 1981-04-12
Total launches: 135
Success / Fail: 133 / 2

The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) was the first solid-propellant rocket to be used for primary propulsion on a vehicle used for human spaceflight. The two SRBs provided 85% of the Space Shuttle's thrust at liftoff and for the first two minutes of ascent. After burnout, they were jettisoned, and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean, where they were recovered, examined, refurbished, and reused.