Thiokol was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems.

On February 3, 1971, at a Thiokol chemical plant southeast of Woodbine, Georgia, a fire entered a storage facility holding nearly five tons of ignition pellets, flares, and other highly flammable materials.

An investigation found the cause to be two failed O-ring seals in the Space Shuttle's right solid rocket booster, which had been manufactured by Morton Thiokol.

Test data from as early as 1977 had revealed a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings in cold conditions, but neither Morton Thiokol nor NASA assessed or corrected the problem.

Shortly before takeoff, several Morton Thiokol engineers recommended delaying the launch until temperatures at Cape Canaveral warmed, but they were overruled by company management.

In the course of an experiment involving ethylene dichloride and sodium polysulfide, they created a gum whose outstanding characteristic was a terrible odor.

[7] The next year, in 1945, Charles Bartley, working for the nascent Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discovered the use of thiokol as a stabilizer in solid-fuel rockets.

[10] In 1957, anticipating the forthcoming Minuteman contract, the company built its plant at Brigham City, Utah, and Thiokol Huntsville began building XM33 Pollux missiles.

In 1964, the Woodbine, Georgia plant was constructed to build solid propellant motors for NASA, but the agency changed course and used liquid fuel.

The company was found at fault for the destruction of Challenger and deaths of the astronauts, as a direct result of pressure from NASA to launch, based on inconclusive evidence of the failure of O-rings on the solid rocket boosters when subject to freezing temperatures.

In 2001, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Inc. (a company formed when Honeywell spun off its defense division) spent $2.9 billion buying Thiokol and related businesses from AIC/Alcoa.

Thiokol produces powerplants for numerous U.S. military missile systems, including AIM-9 Sidewinder, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-69 SRAM, and AIR-2 Genie.

Thiokol machines were used in ski resorts, operated by the USAF in Alaska and other northern regions, and are now popular with private owners[according to whom?]

The company also produced a number of the earliest practical airbag systems, building the high-speed sodium azide exothermic gas generators used to inflate the bags.