Tag: Launch Vehicle Engines
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Dawn Aerospace Marks Milestone with Successful Full-Duration Test of Mk-II Aurora Rocket Engine
Dawn Aerospace has successfully completed a full-duration, bi-propellant test of the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane’s rocket engine. The Mk-IIA engine was fired for 112 seconds at their test facility in Christchurch, New Zealand. This engine will be fitted to the Mk-II Aurora, a subscale technology demonstrator for the Mk-III – Dawn’s two-stage to-orbit solution for scalable…
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Northrop Grumman Successfully Conducts Static Test Fire of New Solid Rocket Motor
Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully conducted a full-scale static test fire of a new solid rocket motor that was developed in less than a year as part of its Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology Demonstrator (SMART Demo). The SMART Demo successfully demonstrated several innovative technologies, alternate manufacturing materials and processes to reduce lead times by 75…
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Ursa Major Raises $138 Million for Launching Solid Rocket Motor Line
Ursa Major, one of America’s leading privately funded companies focused solely on rocket propulsion, announced that it closed $138 million in its Series D and D-1 funding rounds. The investments were led by Explorer 1 Fund and Eclipse, and include RTX Ventures, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Exor Ventures, Mack & Co., LLC, XN,…
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NASA Conducts Third Hot Fire of Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Testing its In-Flight Capability
NASA conducted the third RS-25 engine hot fire in a critical 12-test certification series on Nov. 29, demonstrating a key capability necessary for flight of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket during Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. NASA is conducting a series of tests to certify new manufacturing processes for producing RS-25 engines…
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Firefly Aerospace Completes Successful Hot Fire Test of First Miranda Engine
Firefly Aerospace, an end-to-end space transportation company, completed the first hot fire test for its Miranda engine that will power the first stage of Northrop Grumman’s Antares 330 and the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) the companies are co-developing together. The critical milestone was completed just over a year after signing the initial contract. The turbopump-fed…
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ESA Successfully Completes Full-Scale Rehearsal of its New Ariane 6 Rocket
ESA’s new Ariane 6 rocket passed a major full-scale rehearsal in preparation for its first flight, when teams on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven-minute full firing of the core stage’s engine, as it would fire on a launch into space. For this rehearsal, the boosters were not ignited…
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Ursa Major Introduces New Innovative Solution for Solid Rocket Motor Design and Manufacturing
Ursa Major is proud to introduce Lynx, a new approach to designing and manufacturing solid rocket motors (SRM). Lynx redefines a market plagued by a broken supply chain and an overextended industrial base. With Lynx, Ursa Major offers a revolutionary solution to America’s SRM shortage with a faster, more affordable process, leveraging 3D printing to…
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Aerojet Rocketdyne Propulsion Plays Crucial Role in Lucy’s Asteroid Flyby Mission
Thrusters supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, placed NASA’s Lucy spacecraft right on target for its successful November 1 flyby of Dinkinesh, a main-belt asteroid. This flyby was a critical dress rehearsal for Lucy’s primary mission of making the first-ever close-up observations of Trojan-belt asteroids starting in 2027. Lucy passed within 265 miles…
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NASA Successfully Conducts First Hot Fire of New RS-25 Certification Test Series for SLS Rocket
NASA conducted the first hot fire of a new RS-25 test series on Oct. 17, beginning the final round of certification testing ahead of production of an updated set of engines for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The engines will help power future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Operators fired the RS-25…
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NASA, Aerojet, and Boeing Prepare Artemis II Rocket Core Stage for Final Assembly Phase
NASA and industry partners Aerojet Rocketdyne and Boeing have installed all four RS-25 engines onto the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for the agency’s Artemis II mission, signaling the core stage is nearing completion. Once complete, the core stage will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris…