Editing Solid-propellant rocket (section)

{{Short description|Rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants}}
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{{Use American English|date=September 2016}}
[[File:Space Shuttle Columbia launching.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Space Shuttle]] was launched with the help of two solid-fuel boosters known as [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|SRBs]]]]

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 inception of gunpowder rockets in warfare can be credited to the ancient Chinese, and in the 13th century, the Mongols played a pivotal role in facilitating their westward adoption.<ref>chapters 1–2, ''Blazing the trail: the early history of spacecraft and rocketry'', [[Mike Gruntman]], AIAA, 2004, {{ISBN|1-56347-705-X}}.</ref>

All rockets used some form of solid or powdered [[propellant]] until the 20th century, when [[liquid-propellant rocket]]s offered more efficient and controllable alternatives. Because of their simplicity and reliability, solid rockets are still used today in military armaments worldwide, [[model rocket]]s, [[solid rocket booster]]s and on larger applications.

Since solid-fuel rockets can remain in storage for an extended period without much propellant degradation, and since they almost always launch reliably, they have been frequently used in military applications such as [[missile]]s. The lower performance of solid propellants (as compared to liquids) does not favor their use as primary propulsion in modern medium-to-large launch vehicles customarily used for commercial satellites and major space probes. Solids are, however, frequently used as strap-on boosters to increase payload capacity or as spin-stabilized add-on upper stages when higher-than-normal velocities are required. Solid rockets are used as light launch vehicles for [[low Earth orbit]] (LEO) payloads under 2 tons or escape payloads up to {{convert|1100|lb|kg|order=flip}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=LADEE - Lunar Atmosphere Dust and Environment Explorer|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ladee/main/index.html|last=Culler|first=Jessica|date=2015-06-16|website=NASA|access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space-travel.com/reports/LockMart_And_ATK_Athena_Launch_Vehicles_Selected_As_A_NASA_Launch_Services_Provider_999.html|title=LockMart And ATK Athena Launch Vehicles Selected As A NASA Launch Services Provider|website=www.space-travel.com}}</ref>