You may have noticed that many rockets in recent years have had a characteristic orange color. And the reason for this color may be a matter of curiosity for some of you. Let’s say from the beginning; this color is not just the result of an artistic decision made by the engineers involved. In fact, it has nothing to do with an artistic choice in the slightest.
In summary, when it comes to launching something into Space, using orange rockets is considered the best possible solution. Orange is used by many spacecraft, from the space shuttle’s tank to the band on the Soyuz to the massive core stage of the Space Launch System. This color is not actually paint, but the sprayed foam sealant that covers the part of the launch vehicle that usually contains liquid fuel.
However, in many previous launches, we saw white instead of orange. For example, in the first two launches of the Columbia, the tank was white, not orange. Because the orange material was painted with white paint.
The reason why the tank was painted white was to protect the orange material from external factors. However, it soon became clear that this was actually unnecessary.
The teams also found that by not painting the tank, its overall weight was reduced by 272 kilograms. While that amount was certainly not large, it did mean more equipment on the spacecraft or simply a cheaper flight.
In short, the color of rockets was always orange when foam insulator was sprayed on it. However, they were painted white. But this is no longer preferred and we see directly the orange color of the foam insulator…
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