HARDWARE, MATERIALS, AND PROPELLANTS

Strength

Weight

Thermal resistance

Structural designs must balance

Strength

Withstand thrust and aerodynamic forces

Weight

Minimize unnecessary mass

Thermal resistance

Protect against re-entry and atmospheric friction

Aluminum alloys

Lightweight, strong material used in Falcon 9 and Atlas V

Carbon fiber composites

High strength-to-weight ratio materials used in Startship, RocketLab Electron

Titanium

Heat resistant, strong material used in SR-71, SpaceX Raptor components

Stainless Steel

High heat resistance material used in SpaceX Starship

Axial Loads

Lateral Loads

Thermal Loads

Some structural loads during ascent

Axial loads

compression from thrust

Lateral loads

Bending due to aerodynamic forces

Thermal loads

Heat from friction and rocket exhaust

Monocoque design

stringers and frames

Structural optimization techniques

Monocoque design

Load-bearing shell

Stringers and frames

Internal support structures

Saturn V

has thick aluminum walls for extreme loads

Falcon 9

Relies on pressurization for structural rigidity

Solid Propellant

propellant that is simple, reliable, high thrust-to-weight ratio but not throttleable, once ignited it cannot be shut down

Liquid Propellant

propellant that has higher efficiency, can be throttled and restarted but has complex plumbing, requires cryogenic storage.

solid rockets

used in boosters (e.g. Space Shuttle SRBs, Vega)

Liquid rockets

used in main stages (e.g. Falcon 9, Saturn V)

Specific impulse

Measures fuel efficiency

250-300s

Specific impulse for solid propellant

350-450s

Specific impulse for liquid propellant

Solid propellant

provide high thrust instantly (good for liftoff)

Liquid propellant

allow throttling (good for precise maneuvers)

small launchers

medium-class rockets

heavy launchers

super-heavy launchers

mission class category of launch vehicles

upper stages

play a critical role in final orbit insertion

payload size and mass

target orbit trajectory

cost constraints

mission timeline and launch availability

availability of upper stage configurations

key considerations for launch vehicle selection

Starship (SpaceX)

Fully reusable super-heavy launcher

New Glenn (Blue Origin)

Reusable heavy launcher for commercial payloads

SLS (NASA)

Super-heavy expendable for deep space missions

Space Shutte

has a unique cargo bay instead of a traditional payload fairing

18.3m long x 4.6m wide

payload dimensions of Space shuttle

robotic arm

reusable orbiter

crew compartment

key design features of space shuttle

robotic arm (canadarm)

enabled in-orbit payload deployment

reusable orbiter

allowed multiple flights per vehicle

crew compartment

allowed astronauts to manually operate payloads

expendable rockets

rockets used for one mission only

Atlas V

~18,850 kg launch vehicle used in military and NASA payloads

Delta IV Heavy

~28,790 kg launch vehicle used in National security payloads

Ariane 5

~21,000 kg launch vehivle used in ESA, Galileo, Webb Telescope

Soyuz

~8000 kg launch vehicle used in ISS cargo, crew transport