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Payload Assist Module (PAM) (1982)
The Payload Assist Module, or PAM, was designed as a spinning, solid propellant, upper stage system to be used on both Space Shuttle and Delta launches to transfer heavy satellites from low Earth orbit into geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above the Earth. First launch of PAM as the top stage of a Delta took place in 1980. PAM made its debut flight from a Space Shuttle cargo bay in 1982.
Photo Credit: Boeing Photo