Who made space shuttle challenger and when?

Answer 1

Rockwell International was contracted to build the Space Shuttle orbiters. Even though it was Rockwell doing a lot of the contruction, hundreds of other companies around the country build different parts and sub-systems of the Space Shuttles.

Space Shuttle Challenger in particular began its life as a structural test article (STA) designed for structural testing and quallification tests before an actual space shuttle was tested. The test article was designated STA-099 and construction went from 1975 to 1978. STA-099 was originally never intended for flight. The test article underwent 11 months of rigorous testing in a 43 ton steel rig to simulate the conditions of launch, ascent, on-orbit operations, reentry, and landing. Construction of the first Space Shuttle (Enterprise, designated OV-101) began in 1974 and was completed in 1976. Enterprise was built primarily for landing tests and was also never intended to fly into space. Construction of the first operational space shuttle (Columbia, OV-102) began in 1975 and was completed in 1979. When NASA was ready for a 2nd operational space shuttle, they were originally planning to refit Enterprise. However NASA managers decided that it would be more cost effective to refit STA-099 into an operational space shuttle instead. In 1979 STA-099 was sent back to the plant to be converted into an operational vehicle (OV-099). In 1982, it was finally completed. The result was the Space Shuttle Challenger.