INVESTIGATION OF SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLE CATASTROPHIC FAILURES

The failures of the world's major space launch vehicles from Jan. 1, 1 984, through Dec. 31, 199, are reviewed. The cause of failure and corr ective action for each failed vehicle are documented, the vulnerable a reas of the vehicle are discussed, and the reliability of the major sp ace launch vehicles from different countries in the world is compared. The review provided some of the lessons learned during the last 11 ye ars and revealed that the propulsion subsystem is still the Achilles' heel of the space program. The intent is to pave the way for identifyi ng the critical skills and processes needed to mitigate future space-r elated mission failures.