Aerojet Rocketdyne has tested an engine for NASA‘s second exploration mission at the space agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The RS-25 engine, dubbed as E2063, was fired up for 500 seconds in a move to evaluate the system’s capacity to support the EM-2 exploration mission, Aerojet Rocketdyne said Thursday. …
Read More »SpaceX Gets USAF Contract Modification to Continue Rocket Engine Tech Devt
Space Exploration Technologies has received a $40.8 million contract modification to further develop a rocket propulsion system prototype for the U.S. Air Force‘s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The Defense Department said Thursday SpaceX will continue development of the Raptor engine technology through April 30, 2018, under the modification. USAF awarded the company a $61.4 million …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne-Built Engines for NASA Space Launch System Now Ready for Integration
Aerojet Rocketdyne has developed four engines that will support NASA‘s maiden flight for the Space Launch System. The company said Wednesday that the RS-25 engines are now ready to be integrated on the SLS rocket’s core stage in preparation for the Exploration Mission-1 mission. “These four EM-1 engines have … powered …
Read More »Vencore to Conduct Oceanography R&D for Navy
Vencore has won a potential five-year, $22.9 million contract from the U.S. Navy to conduct a research and development project that will focus on ocean dynamics and prediction oceanography. The service branch received multiple offers for the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract through a broad agency announcement from the Naval Research Laboratory and obligated $741,951 in working …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Tests 4th RS-25 Engine Controller for NASA Space Launch System
Aerojet Rocketdyne tested the fourth and final RS-25 engine controller needed for NASA’s Space Launch System. The company said Wednesday the testing for the fourth RS-25 controller was done at Stennis Space Center, which follows the third controller test done in July to check engine thrust and mixture ratio precision. The four RS-25 engines …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Tests 3rd Flight Engine Controller for NASA SLS Rocket; Eileen Drake Comments
Aerojet Rocketdyne has tested a third RS-25 engine flight controller the company developed to support the launch of a future NASA heavy-lift rocket. The RS-25 flight controller is designed to monitor the health of a rocket engine using real-time adjustments to combustion pressures, turbopump speeds and other configurations such as …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne to Build Main Propulsion System for DARPA-Boeing Spaceplane Project
Aerojet Rocketdyne has been selected to build the main propulsion system for a reusable hypersonic aircraft being developed by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency and Boeing. Aerojet Rocketdyne said Wednesday that it will produce two AR-22 engines using parts from previous versions of the space shuttle main engine that has remained in the company …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Tests 2nd SLS Flight Engine Controller Unit; Eileen Drake Comments
Aerojet Rocketdyne has tested a second flight engine controller for its RS-25 rocket engine at NASA‘s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. NASA will use the Aerojet Rocketdyne-made engine technology to power the Space Launch System as part of a planned unmanned space mission, the company said Tuesday. Eileen Drake, president and CEO of Aerojet Rocketdyne, said the RS-25 development and …
Read More »Mississippi State University-Led Partnership to Oversee DHS Drone Demo Facility
The Department of Homeland Security has chosen a Mississippi State University-led partnership to advance research and development work on small unmanned aerial systems. The Mississippi Partnership will also oversee a sUAS demonstration facility in the state for DHS’ science and technology directorate to support flight exercises and assessment of drones …
Read More »NASA Test-Fires 1st Engine Controller Unit for SLS Rocket
NASA has conducted a 500-second, live-fire test of an engine controller installed on an RS-25 development engine for the Space Launch System rocket at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The space agency will verify the data collected from the live-fire test held Thursday and then install the Engine Controller Unit-2 on one of …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Tests AR1, RS-25 Engines at NASA Stennis Space Center
Aerojet Rocketdyne has conducted a series of tests on its AR1 liquid oxygen/kerosene-based propulsion system and RS-25 liquid propellant engine at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. AR1 recorded the highest chamber pressure of any U.S. developed main combustion system during firing tests that evaluated the performance and design parameters of the engine’s injector, …
Read More »NASA Completes Preliminary Design Review of Space Launch System’s Exploration Upper Stage
NASA has completed the preliminary design review of the exploration upper stage for the Space Launch System rocket designed to bring the Orion spacecraft to deep space by 2021 as part of its first crewed flight mission. “With the completion of this review, our teams will start developing components and …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Lands $174M NASA Contract to Build Upper Stage Engines for SLS Rocket
Aerojet Rocketdyne has received a potential eight-year, $174 million contract to develop, test and certify RL10 upper stage engines for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. NASA said Saturday the contract will run through Feb. 29, 2024 and covers the production of 10 RL10C-3 engines and two spare engines in support of the SLS rocket’s …
Read More »RiverTech to Help NASA Secure Stennis Space Center
RiverTech LLC has received a potential $25.5 million contract from NASA to provide security services at the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. NASA said Saturday that RiverTech will work to protect physical infrastructure and personnel, manage access control, perform badging, handle 911-dispatch center and provide traffic control and locksmith services to the …
Read More »NASA Adopts Specialized Transporters to Move Space Launch System Test Articles
NASA has kicked off its use of specialized transporters built by Wheelift to transport the core stage and test articles of the Space Launch System to various agency centers for tests. The space agency said Tuesday the mobile platforms are designed to carry the 212-foot SLS core stage, the largest part of …
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