3 ms·
It had a reusable orbiter, not a reusable first stage.
by smarnach 2y ago
It had a reusable orbiter, not a reusable first stage.
- extraduder_ire 2y agoThe external tank and both SRBs could be refurbished and reused. The orbiter also forms part of the first stage.
- mrguyorama 2y agoMaybe at one point really early on the external tank was planned to be reused, but it was expended in every launch of the shuttle with no provisions for re-usability. They even stopped painting it within a few launches.