Tag: Aerojet Rocketdyne
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ULA chief says Blue Origin in driver’s seat for Vulcan engine deal
The first fully-assembled BE-4 engine. Credit: Blue Origin A full-scale BE-4 engine developed by Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, is installed on a test stand in West Texas for a series of hotfire tests that United Launch Alliance will closely examine before settling on the reusable methane-fueled engine for its…
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New SLS engine controller tested in hold-down firing
A shuttle-era RS-25 rocket engine was fired at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on Thursday in the first test of a new engine control computer that will launch on the first flight of the agency’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket as soon as late next year. The ground development engine was fired for 500…
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Shuttle engine delivered to Orion service module assembly site
Orion’s service module engine undergoes vibration testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Credit: NASA A former space shuttle orbital maneuvering system engine has been delivered to Germany for attachment to the European-built service module destined to steer NASA’s next Orion spacecraft on a course around the moon on an uncrewed test flight in…
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Aerojet Rocketdyne tapped to build high-power ion drive
Above is a prototype 13-kilowatt Hall thruster during testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. This prototype demonstrated the technology readiness needed for industry to continue the development of high-power solar electric propulsion into a flight-qualified system. Credit: NASA Aerojet Rocketdyne has won a $67 million NASA contract to build an advanced electric propulsion…
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Job One for Aerojet’s future ion drive: Go out and get a piece of an asteroid
An artist’s concept shows a space probe powered by ion thrusters. (Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne) Aerojet Rocketdyne’s next-generation ion thrusters could well make their debut in space during NASA’s robotic mission to grab a piece of an asteroid and bring it back to lunar orbit in the 2020s. Earlier this week, NASA announced that Aerojet’s operation in Redmond, Wash., would be…
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An engine for Mars: Aerojet wins $67M NASA contract for solar electric propulsion
A prototype 13-kilowatt Hall thruster fires during testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The prototype demonstrated the technology readiness needed for industry to continue the development of high-power solar electric propulsion into a flight-ready system. (Credit: NASA) Aerojet Rocketdyne’s operation in Redmond, Wash., has won a $67 million contract from NASA to design and develop…
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United Launch Alliance’s CEO weighs Blue Origin’s chances in multibillion-dollar rocket engine race
United Launch Alliance’s president and CEO, Tory Bruno, talks with students during the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – United Launch Alliance’s president and CEO, Tory Bruno, is facing a 2019 deadline from Congress to come up with a made-in-the-USA replacement for the Russian-built rocket engines…
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ULA’s candidates to replace RD-180 engine win Air Force funding
File photo of a hotfire test using components of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine. Credit: Blue Origin The Pentagon has awarded at least $162 million in contracts to Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance for development work on the AR1 and BE-4 rocket engines, candidates to power the first stage of a next-generation rocket and replace…
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Blue Origin, ULA and Aerojet win Air Force contracts for U.S.-made rocket engines
Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine goes through staged combustion testing. (Credit: ULA) Blue Origin, the rocket venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, is among the beneficiaries in a set of Air Force contracts aimed at developing U.S.-made replacements for the Russian-made engines that currently power many of America’s space missions. One of the contracts announced…
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Aerojet Rocketdyne wins propulsion contracts worth nearly $1.4 billion
An RS-25 engine fires on the test stand in Mississippi in August as part of a series of test burns to check out the engine’s new electronics controller. Credit: NASA NASA and Boeing have awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne widely-anticipated contracts to restart the production of simplified shuttle-era rocket engines for the heavy-lift Space Launch System and…