S139 Booster Explained

The S139 (S for Solid, 139 for weight of 139 tonnes) is a Solid Rocket Booster manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the SPROB facility.^[1] The rocket motor was first developed for use in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Later it was utilised in the GSLV MKII. It uses hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) as a propellant. It has a maximum thrust of 4800 kN.

Associated rockets

The S139 Booster has been used in 2 major ISRO rockets.

It is used in the PSLV as its core stage since 1993.^[2]

It is also used as a core stage in Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MKII rocket.^[3]

It is also the part of a variant of the Unified Launch Vehicle which is under development.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2018-11-29. ISRO to increase production of solid booster engines to make more powerful rockets. 2021-08-09. Tech2.
2. Web site: PSLV - ISRO. 2021-08-11. www.isro.gov.in. 2019-03-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20190323162329/https://www.isro.gov.in/launchers/pslv. dead.
3. Web site: GSLV - ISRO. 2021-08-11. www.isro.gov.in. 2019-06-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20190621194252/https://www.isro.gov.in/launchers/gslv. dead.
4. Web site: ISRO Unified Launch Vehicle (ULV). 2021-08-11. forum.nasaspaceflight.com.