Thiokol Propulsion, a division of Cordant Technologies Inc., successfully static has tested a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Stage 1 rocket motor at its Promontory, Utah, test site.
The test was the first of eight motors to be tested in the qualification phase of the Air Force Minuteman Propulsion Replacement Program/Technical Insertion Program. Five more static tests are planned by Thiokol Propulsion over the next 16 months. Two Thiokol flight test motors will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in late 1999.
Completion of this program phase will qualify Thiokol to remanufacture Stage 1 motors during production of the ICBM program under TRW’s prime integration contract. Thiokol Propulsion was the original producer of the Minuteman Stage 1 motor and was selected as the lead solid propulsion team member by TRW.
