Make: Rockets

Chapter 18. Cluster Rockets

Figure 18-1. The Saturn 1B booster is a Tinkertoy cluster rocket. It’s made up of eight tanks from Redstone rockets holding fuel and liquid oxygen, a liquid oxygen tank from a Jupiter rocket, and eight H1 rocket motors.

In a cluster rocket, two or more motors are used to propel the rocket with the force of multiple motors. It’s a popular technique in both model rocketry and full-scale rocketry because it’s an easy way to use relatively inexpensive, lower-power motors you already have on hand to do the job of a much larger and often more expensive motor.

Things to Consider When Clustering Rockets

We’re going to look at two ...