Wind tunnel investigation of strap-on booster separation characteristics of a launch vehicle

A description and typical results of wind tunnel tests carried out to determine the separation characteristics of the strap-on boosters of a launch vehicle after their separation from the core vehicle are presented. The test program was carried out in two phases. An extensive aerodynamic data base was generated using the grid approach in the first phase. This data base was utilized for the design of the ejection mechanism. In the second phase of the test program, the semicaptive trajectory technique was used to determine the trajectories of the separated boosters. A specially designed test rig featuring six degrees-of-freedom positioning capability for the two boosters was utilized for the tests. The wind tunnel studies showed that the separation trajectories of the boosters were safe.