Type of flight control surface used on rockets and bombs
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations.(May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
The Vympel NPO R-77 is a beyond-visual-range missile that uses grid fins. The gray KAB-500 OD guided bomb on the left of the image has conventional "planar" tail fins.Closeup of MOAB grid fins
Grid fins (or lattice fins) are a type of flight control surface used on rockets and bombs, sometimes in place of more conventional control surfaces, such as planar fins. They were developed in the 1950s by a team led by Sergey Belotserkovskiy [ru][1] and used since the 1970s in various Soviet ballistic missile designs such as the SS-12 Scaleboard, SS-20 Saber, SS-21 Scarab, SS-23 Spider, and SS-25 Sickle, as well as the N-1 (the intended rocket for the Soviet moon program). In Russia, they are thus often referred to as Belotserkovskiy grid fins.
Grid fins have also been used on conventional missiles and bombs such as the Vympel R-77 air-to-air missile; the 3M-54 Klub (SS-N-27 Sizzler) family of cruise missiles; and the American Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) large-yield conventional bomb, and on specialized devices such as the Quick-MEDS delivery system and as part of the launch escape system for the Soyuz spacecraft.
In 2014, SpaceX tested grid fins on a first-stage demonstration test vehicle of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket,[2] and on December 21, 2015 they were used during the high-velocity atmospheric portion of the reentry to help guide a commercial Falcon 9 first stage back to land for the first successful orbital booster landing in spaceflight history.
The 1st stage of the private Chinese company i-Space's Hyperbola-1 rocket appeared on July 25, 2019 to be equipped with steerable grid fins for attitude control.
On July 25, 2019, China launched a modified version of Long March 2C which featured grid fins atop the first stage for controlled re-entry of the spent rocket stage away from people in nearby towns and cities.[3]
^Редакция журнала "Наука и жизнь" (Editorial staff of the journal "Science and Life") (April 1998). ТРУДНЫЙ ВЗЛЕТ РЕШЕТЧАТЫХ КРЫЛЬЕВ [The difficult take-off of lattice wings]. www.nkj.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
^"F9R 1000m Fin Flight | Onboard Cam and Wide Shot". SpaceX. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2014 – via YouTube.
^Jones, Andrew (30 July 2019). "Chinese Long March launch tests grid fins for safety, future reusability". SpaceNews.com.
Gridfins (or lattice fins) are a type of flight control surface used on rockets and bombs, sometimes in place of more conventional control surfaces, such...
Look up grid or GRID in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Regular grid, a tessellation of space with translational...
although gridfins are sometimes used. Static fins have also been used for one satellite, GOCE. Static tail fins are used as stabilizers Engineering fins are...
equipped with gridfins made from aluminum, which were eventually replaced by larger, more aerodynamically efficient, and durable titanium fins. The upgraded...
the tank sections begins. Usually before final assembly of the vehicle, gridfins are added to the interstage, and chines are added after stacking the propellant...
oxidizer. The rocket's first stage will have restartable engines and gridfins to enable reuse after stage recovery. First stage landing and recovery...
approval for launch. On November 16, the flight was delayed one day, due to a gridfin actuator needing to be replaced on B9. The first launch attempt of the...
of the rocket; more temperature-resistant cast and machined titanium gridfins; a thermal-protection coating on the first stage to limit reentry heating...
Falcon 9 vehicle manufactured by SpaceX. It launched on December 5, 2018. A gridfin malfunction occurred shortly after the entry burn, resulting in the booster...
stage engine nozzle, gridfins, and attitude thrusters center pusher added for stage separation design evolution of the gridfins modified Octaweb upgraded...
and navigate through it, so they are often equipped with heat shields, gridfins, and other flight control surfaces. By modifying their shape, spaceplanes...
interstage 20 t (44,000 lb). The booster uses four electrically actuated gridfins for control, each with a mass of 3 t (6,600 lb). The booster is lifted...
specific Dragon spacecraft. The first-stage booster landing failed due to a gridfin hydraulic pump stall on reentry. 36d 4h Success CRS-17 C113.2 ♺ 4 May 2019...
screen-grid tubes and beam tetrodes, the first grid is the control grid and the second grid is the screen grid. In other tetrodes one of the grids is a...
gridfins placed in an X-wing configuration around the vehicle, stowed on ascent and deployed on reentry to control the stage's lift vector. Each fin...
800,000 lb) when completely filled with propellant. It would have used gridfins to help guide the booster through the atmosphere for a precise landing...
are not currently included in the following launch list. Aerodynamic gridfins were added on the Long March 2C in 2019 to help guide falling stages away...
the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015. "SpaceX CRS-5: Grid-Fins and a Barge". Spaceflight Insider. 25 November 2014. Archived from the...
Global Information
