It was developed primarily by Thiokol Propulsion and after several mergers, is manufactured by Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems division.

The "T" prefix stands for Thiokol, and the following letter refers to the company division that developed the rocket motor.

Usually after motor burnout and just prior to satellite release the PAM is de-spun using a yo-yo de-spin technique.

A Star 48 Payload Assist Module that had been used to launch a USA-91 GPS satellite in 1993 crashed in the Saudi Arabian desert in January 2001, after its orbit decayed.

[5][6] A non-spinning, thrust-vectoring version called Star 48BV is available, and is the final stage of the Minotaur IV+ launch vehicle.

[9] (see also spin-stabilisation) The Star 48B can produce 15,000 pounds of thrust (66723 newtons), with a burn time of 1 minute 27 seconds.

The addition of a Star 48 "kick stage" would have allowed the Clipper mission to reach Europa without needing a gravity assist from Venus.