Space Shuttle external tank

"External fuel tank" and "External Tank" redirect here. For expendable tanks carried by aircraft, see Drop tank. For the holding company owned by YouTuber Tom Scott, see External Tank Limited.
"SSET" redirects here. For the category sSet, see Category of simplicial sets.

Space Shuttle external tank
External tank No. 124 is lowered into high bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building prior to attachment of the solid rocket boosters for mission STS-117.
ManufacturerNASA Michoud Assembly Facility, contractor: Martin Marietta, later Lockheed Martin
Country of originUnited States
Used onSpace Shuttle
General characteristics
Height46.9 m (153.8 ft)
Diameter8.4 m (27.6 ft)
Gross mass760,000 kg (1,680,000 lb)
Space Shuttle ET
Powered by3 RS-25 mounted on the orbiter
Maximum thrust1,254,000 lbf (5,580 kN)[1]
Burn time510 s
PropellantLH2/LOX
The ET from STS-115 after separation from the orbiter. The scorch mark near the front end of the tank is from the SRB separation motors.

The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) was the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contained the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplied the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the three RS-25 main engines in the orbiter. The ET was jettisoned just over 10 seconds after main engine cut-off (MECO) and it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. Unlike the Solid Rocket Boosters, external tanks were not re-used. They broke up before impact in the Indian Ocean (or Pacific Ocean in the case of direct-insertion launch trajectories), away from shipping lanes and were not recovered.[2]

  1. ^ Aerojet Rocketdyne, RS-25 Engine (accessed July 22, 2014)
  2. ^ "External Tank". NSTS 1988 News Reference Manual. NASA. September 1988. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2014.