| Overall Shuttle | Orditer | |
| Lenght | 184.2feel | 56.67feet |
| Height | 76.6feet | 56.57feet |
| Wingspan | - | 78.06feet |
| <Approximate weight> | ||
| >gross lift-off,which will vary depending on payload weight and onboard consumables | 4.5 million pounds | |
| >Nominal end-of-mission landing with will vary depending on paylond return weight | 230,000 pounds | |
| <Thrust(sea level)> | ||
| <solid rocket boosters> | 3,300,000 pounds of thrust each in vacuum | |
| >Orbiter main engines | - | 398,800 pounds of thrust each at sea level at 104 percant |
|
Cargo bay >Length >Diameter |
||
| - | 60 feet | |
| - | 15 feet |
美國航天飛機由兩枚固體火箭推進器,外掛推進劑箱,軌道器組成。
全長56m,起飛重量2000t,可把23吨有效載荷送入近地軌道,可乘坐6~8人,可連續工作兩週,最長28天。
固體火箭推進器:直徑3.7m,高45m,各重585吨。由11個直徑3.66m無繨鋼筒組成,產生13150N推力,占航天孩機飛行總推力80%,發射時加上主發動機的總推力為31400N。起飛8分鐘後脫離回收,濺落大西洋。
外掛推進劑箱:直徑8.4m,高47m,內裝有100吨液氫和600吨液氧,起飛500秒後,燃料耗盡,主引擎熄火,在100km高度脫離主體,在大氣中燒毀。
軌道器:
Colombia(OVA-102)
Discovery(OVA-103)
Atlantis(OVA-104)
Endeavour(OVA-105)