Spherical High-Energy Solid-Propellant Rocket Motor (Report for Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cal Tech)

This design and development program was conducted in an attempt to advance the state-of-the-art of solid-propellant rocket motor technology beyond its status at the time of contract in August 1961. The primary program objective was the design of a 36-inch-diameter spherical motor having a higher propellant specific impulse and a higher propellant mass fraction than that of any existing rocket motor. The prototype motor design was to incorporate a propellant formulation and component design concepts which had been successfully tested during the course of the program. Final static firing evaluation was to be conducted in 17-inch-diameter subscale motors. An exceptional reference text for amateur experimental rocket scientists and engineers.