page_title: Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster
section_title: Space Launch System (SLS)
hierarchical_section_title: Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster / Future and proposed uses / Space Launch System (SLS)
caption_attribution_description: English: Saturn V, Shuttle, Ares I, Ares V, Ares IV, SLS Block I&amp;II
context_page_description: The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster was the first solid-propellant rocket to be used for primary propulsion on a vehicle used for human spaceflight and provided the majority of the Space Shuttle's thrust during the first two minutes of flight. After burnout, they were jettisoned and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean where they were recovered, examined, refurbished, and reused.
  The Space Shuttle SRB was the most powerful solid rocket motor ever flown. Each provided a maximum 14.7 MN thrust, roughly double the most powerful single-combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine ever flown, the Rocketdyne F-1. With a combined mass of about 1,180 t, they comprised over half the mass of the Shuttle stack at liftoff. The motor segments of the SRBs were manufactured by Thiokol of Brigham City, Utah, which was later purchased by ATK. The prime contractor for most other components of the SRBs, as well as for the integration of all the components and retrieval of the spent SRBs, was USBI, a subsidiary of Pratt and Whitney. This contract was subsequently transitioned to United Space Alliance, a limited liability company joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
context_section_description: The first versions (Blocks 1 and 1B) of the Space Launch System (SLS) are planned to use a pair of five-segment Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), which were developed from the four-segment SRBs used for the Shuttle. Modifications for the SLS included the addition of a center booster segment, new avionics, and new insulation which eliminates the Shuttle SRB's asbestos and is 860 kg (1,900 lb) lighter. The five-segment SRBs provide approximately 25% more total impulse than the Shuttle SRB, and will not be recovered after use.
caption: Comparison of the Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Ares I, Ares V, Ares IV, SLS Block I and SLS Block II
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