Solid rocket booster separates, first Space Shuttle flight, 12 April 1981. STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first mission of Orbiter 'Columbia', and the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle programme. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida, USA. The solid rocket boosters fire for the first two minutes of flight, along with the shuttle's main engines, in order for the spacecraft to break free of Earth's gravity. Here they are seen dropping away, no longer needed, as Columbia passes an altitude of about 28 miles.