A landmark partnership between NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, has concluded after more than 20 years of coordinated efforts in testing the world’s most powerful hydrogen-fueled rocket engine.
NASA Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, was selected in 1997 as the location to assemble and test RS-68 engines to power the Delta IV rocket, a United Launch Alliance vehicle used for the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program.
The decision paved the way for the first commercial partnership between SSC and a commercial aerospace company, providing a model for future collaborations.
“The RS-68 program leaves a legacy that has proven invaluable to America’s space efforts,” NASA Stennis Director Rick Gilbrech said. “The work with Aerojet Rocketdyne really laid the groundwork for commercial partnership efforts of today. It has been a privilege to work with the company through these years to support the nation’s critical launch capabilities.”
Between military and NASA operations, RS-68 engines have a track record of 100% mission success. Aerojet Rocketdyne conducted the final RS-68 engine test at NASA Stennis in April 2021. Since then, crews used a certification engine to maintain test stand and workforce readiness in the event any RS-68 engines needed retesting.
Over the life of the RS-68 program, Aerojet Rocketdyne conducted 341 hot fire engine tests at Stennis, recorded a total run time of 58,672 seconds and delivered 77 flight certified production engines to power Delta IV launch vehicles.
The engines have powered 44 launches, including 15 heavy launch configurations using three core vehicles and three engines. The final Delta IV mission is scheduled for March 2024 using the last three RS-68 production engines. (NASA 09/12/23) NASA Stennis, Aerojet Rocketdyne Closes Historic Commercial Test Partn | NASA
No comments:
Post a Comment