The Algol family of

solid-fuel rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses Rocket propellant#Solid chemical propellants, solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder. The incepti ...

stages and boosters is built by

Aerojet Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp, ...

(now

Aerojet Rocketdyne Aerojet Rocketdyne is a subsidiary of American Arms industry, defense company L3Harris that manufactures rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet traces ...

) and used on a variety of

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

s. It was developed by Aerojet from the earlier Jupiter Senior and the Navy Polaris programs. Upgrades to the Algol motor occurred from 1960 until the retirement of the Scout launch vehicle in 1994. The Algol family use solid propellant fuel with a loaded mass of 10,705 kg, and produces 470.93 kN of thrust. The motor has a

specific Impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket engine, rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust. In general, this is a ratio of the ''Impulse (physics), ...

of 236 seconds in a vacuum environment. Variations Algol I, I-D, II, II-A, II-BA popular rating was 40KS-115,000 (52,000 kgf for 40 seconds), also known as Senior. They were initially developed as the first-stage of propulsion for the Scout rocket, with the design being based on the

UGM-27 Polaris The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missi ...

, a

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which ...

developed for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

Algol 1 (XM-68)

This rocket design started as the Polaris test motor, 31 feet in length with a diameter steel case, and 86,000 lbf of thrust. The eventual

A-1 was larger, in length and in diameter. The Algol 1 was first used for a successful suborbital launch of a

Scout X-1 Scout X-1 was an American expendable launch system and sounding rocket which was flown seven times between August 1960 and October 1961. Four orbital and three suborbital launches were made, with four of the launches resulting in failures. The ...

rocket on September 2, 1960. The rocket started as a

test motor with a 40-inch diameter, the largest solid motor ever tested at the time. It had a nominal performance rating of 40 seconds duration and 45,000 kgf thrust. It was long, in diameter. Later versions for Scout D scaled to in diameter.

Specifications

These are the basic specifications for the Algol 1 engine: * Gross mass: 10,705 kg (23,600 lb) * Unfuelled mass: 1,900 kg (4,100 lb) * Height: 9.12 m (29.92 ft) * Diameter: 1.01 m (3.31 ft) * Thrust: 470.90 kN (105,863 lbf) * Specific impulse: 236 s * Specific impulse sea level: 214 s * Burn time: 40 s

Algol 1-A

Used on the

Scout X Scout X, also known as Cub Scout, was an American rocket which served as a prototype of the Scout, which was launched on a single test flight in 1960. It was used to test the configuration that later Scout rockets would use as well as two of the so ...

(Cub Scout) test flight flown April 18, 1960. served as prototype vehicle for eventual Scout rocket.

Algol 1-B

Used on

, RM-89 Blue Scout I, and RM-90 Blue Scout II.

Algol 1-C

Used on the Scout X-1A. After this single flight, the Scout X-2 with Algol 1-D replaced this prototype.

Algol 1-D

It was first used on the

Scout X-2 Scout X-2 was an American expendable launch system and sounding rocket which was flown twice in 1962. It was a four-stage rocket, based on the earlier Scout X-1, uprated first and third stages. It was a member of the Scout (rocket family), Scout f ...

on March 29, 1962. It continued to be used on Scout X-2 and

Scout X-2M Scout X-2M was an American expendable launch system which was flown three times between May 1962 and April 1963. It was a four-stage rocket, based on the earlier Scout X-2, but with an MG-18 upper stage instead of the Altair used on the X-2. It w ...

launches until 1963. The same year, it was also used on the

Little Joe II Qualification Test Vehicle QTV (Qualification Test Vehicle) was the first test flight of the Apollo Little Joe II rocket. It was launched in August 1963. Objectives The Little Joe II Qualification Test Vehicle was launched on its first flight from White Sands Missile Ra ...

Specifications

These are the basic specifications for the Algol 1-D engine: * Gross mass: * Unfuelled mass: * Height: * Diameter: * Thrust: 440.00 kN (98,910 lbf) * Burn time: 44 s

Algol II

The Algol 2 (Algol II) series was first flown in 1962. It was used a first stage on

Scout A The Scout family of rockets were American launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages. It was also t ...

Scout B The Scout family of rockets were American launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages. It was also t ...

Scout X-3 The Scout family of rockets were American launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages. It was also t ...

and

Scout X-4 Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. Algol II was proposed as a strap-on motor for the 3BAS2 configuration of Titan 3B rocket proposed by Martin in the mid-1960s. It would have been used for deep space missions with a Centaur upper stage and strap-on for liftoff thrust augmentation. It was never flown. It was also proposed for the Athena RTX program in 1969, losing to

Thiokol Thiokol was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. Its name is a portmanteau of the Greek words for sulfur () and glue (), an allusion to the company ...

Algol II-A

The Algol II-A was introduced in 1963 using the Aerojet 40 KS motor. It first flew on

in 1963.

Algol II-B

The Algol II-B was created after an Algol II-A flight failure, the nozzle was designed and designate the II-B model. It first flew on

Specifications

These are the basic specifications for the Algol II-B engine: * Gross mass: 10,700 kg (23,500 lb) * Unfuelled mass: 1,170 kg (2,570 lb) * Height: 9.10 m (29.80 ft) * Diameter: 1.02 m (3.34 ft) * Thrust: 400.00 kN (89,920 lbf) * Burn time: 80 s

Algol II-C

The Algol II-C flew on Scout A-1 and B-1. Scout A-2,

B-2 The Northrop B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American Heavy bomber, heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth aircraft, stealth technology designed to penetrator (aircraft), penetrate dense anti-aircraft war ...

, C and 2 versions planned for Algol II-C were never used.

Specifications

These are the basic specifications for the Algol II-C engine: * Gross mass: 10,800 kg (23,800 lb) * Unfuelled mass: 1,200 kg (2,600 lb * Height: 9.10 m (29.80 ft) * Diameter: 1.02 m (3.34 ft) * Thrust: 436.00 kN (98,016 lbf) * Burn time: 76 s

References

{{Suborbital rocket engines Rocket stages Solid-fuel rockets

Algol 1 (XM-68)

Algol 1 (XM-68)

Specifications

Algol 1-A

Algol 1-B

Algol 1-C

Algol 1-D

Specifications

Algol II

Algol II-A

Algol II-B

Specifications

Algol II-C

Specifications

See also

References