Country of origin China Application Kick engine Status Out of Production | First flight 1995-11-28 Associated L/V Long March 2E | |
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Designer China Hexi Chemical and Machinery Corporation | ||
The FG-46 (a.k.a. EPKM and SpaB-170) is a Chinese spin stabilized solid rocket motor burning HTPB. It was developed by China Hexi Chemical and Machinery Corporation (also known as the 6th Academy of CASIC) for use in the Long March 2E on GTO missions. It first flew as a prototype SPTS-M14 on July 16, 1990 on the Badr A mission. It had its first commercial mission orbiting the AsiaSat 2 on November 28, 1995 and exactly one month later, on December 28 its second and last mission for EchoStar 1.
It has a total nominal mass of 6,001 kg (13,230 lb), of which 5,444 kg (12,002 lb) is propellant load and its burn out mass is 529 kg (1,166 lb). It has an average thrust of 190 kN (43,000 lbf) with a specific impulse of 292 seconds burning for 87 seconds, with a total impulse of 1.589 MN (357,000 lbf). It is spin stabilized at 40 rpm and the propellant mass can be reduced by up to 350 kg (770 lb) eight months before launch or up to 15 kg (33 lb) on the launch site.