The Nike stage or Nike

booster Booster may refer to: Amusement rides * Booster (Fabbri ride), a pendulum ride * Booster (HUSS ride), an evolution of the Breakdance ride * Booster (KMG ride), a pendulum ride Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Booster, a cha ...

, a

solid fuel Solid fuel refers to various forms of solid material that can be burnt to release energy, providing heat and light through the process of combustion. Solid fuels can be contrasted with liquid fuels and gaseous fuels. Common examples of solid fu ...

rocket motor, was developed by

Hercules Aerospace Hercules, Inc. was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit Co ...

for use as the first stage of the

Nike Ajax The Nike Ajax was an American guided surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed by Bell Labs for the United States Army. The world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile, the Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft ...

(M5 motor) and

Nike Hercules The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, bu ...

(M5E1 and M88 motor) missiles as part of

Project Nike Project Nike (Greek: Nike (mythology), Νίκη, "Victory") was a United States Army, U.S. Army project proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight (missile), line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project del ...

. It was subsequently employed in a variety of missiles and multi-stage sounding rockets, becoming one of the most popular and reliable rocket stages, not only in the United States, but also in several other countries around the world.

Sounding rockets based on Nike Booster

*The

Nike Deacon The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was developed by Hercules Aerospace for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax (M5 motor) and Nike Hercules (M5E1 and M88 motor) missiles as part of Project Nike. It was subsequently e ...

has a ceiling of 189 km, a takeoff thrust of 217 kN, a takeoff weight of 710 kg, a diameter of 0.42 m and a length of 7.74 m. * The

Nike Javelin The Nike stage or Nike Booster (rocketry), booster, a Solid-fuel rocket, solid fuel rocket motor, was developed by Hercules Aerospace for use as the first stage of the MIM-3 Nike Ajax, Nike Ajax (M5 motor) and Nike Hercules (M5E1 and M88 motor) ...

was launched 34 times between 1964 and 1978. The maximum

flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

altitude of the Nike Javelin was 130 km, the takeoff thrust 217 kN, takeoff weight 900 kg, 0.42 m and length 8.20 m. * The Nike Malemute consists of a Nike starting stage and a

Malemute Malemute is the designation of an American sounding rocket family. The original Malemute had a maximum flight altitude of 165 km, a liftoff thrust of 57.00 kN, a total mass of 100 kg, a diameter of 0.41 m and a total length of 2.40 ...

upper stage. It has a ceiling of , a takeoff thrust of , a takeoff weight of , a diameter of and a length of . *The

Nike Orion The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was developed by Hercules Aerospace for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax (M5 motor) and Nike Hercules (M5E1 and M88 motor) missiles as part of Project Nike. It was subsequentl ...

has a Nike base stage, taken from

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

surplus stocks, and an

Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

upper stage. The Nike Orion is long. There are two stages of boosters; the first is 41.9 cm (16.5), and the second is . It has a launch weight of , a launch thrust of 217 kN (48,800 lbf) and a ceiling of 140 km (460,000 ft). The first Nike-Orion rocket was launched on February 26, 1977, and had more than 175 launches through the 2000s. *The

Nike Recruit The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was developed by Hercules Aerospace for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax (M5 motor) and Nike Hercules (M5E1 and M88 motor) missiles as part of Project Nike. It was subsequently e ...

has an apogee of 5 km, a liftoff thrust of 217 kN, a total mass of 1100 kg and a total length of 8.00 m. * The

Nike Tomahawk Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

has a Nike rocket as the first stage, and a

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Native Americans in the United States, Indian peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Etymology The name comes from Powhatan langu ...

rocket as the second. The Nike Tomahawk has a ceiling of 230

statute mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

s (370 km), a payload capacity of , a launch thrust of 49,000 pounds of force (217 kN), a launch weight of , a diameter of and a length of . The Nike Tomahawk was launched 395 times between June 25, 1963, and November 27, 1995. One of its launches was in 1966 on the beach in

Cassino Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone at the southern end of the region of Lazio. It's the last city of the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. It is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari (river), Gari and ...

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. * The

Nike Viper The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was developed by Hercules Aerospace for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax (M5 motor) and Nike Hercules (M5E1 and M88 motor) missiles as part of Project Nike. It was subsequently e ...

consists of a Nike starting stage and a Viper upper stage. The Nike Viper has a ceiling of 80 km, a takeoff thrust of 217 kN (48,800 lbf), a takeoff weight of 600 kg and a length of 8.00 m. Below is a list of sounding rockets based on Nike, Nike-Nike or Nike upper stage combinations:

References

External links

U.S. Naval Research Lab. - Nike Booster

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - Fins, Set of Four, Rocket, Nike Booster, Nike-Cajun

{{Authority control Rocket stages

Sounding rockets based on Nike Booster

See also

References

External links