Aerojet Rocketdyne
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| Division | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Predecessor | Aerojet Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Sacramento, California, United States |
| Products | Rocket motor and missile propulsion |
| Parent | Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings |
| Website | www |
Aerojet Rocketdyne is an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company is owned by GenCorp. Aerojet Rocketdyne was formed in 2013 when Aerojet (already owned by GenCorp) and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne were merged, following the latter's acquisition by GenCorp from Pratt & Whitney.[1][2]
Contents
Products
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Current engines
- RS-25 (LH2/LOX) – Reusable main engine for the retired Space Shuttle. Remaining shuttle engines are scheduled for use on Space Launch System first stage launches after which an expendable version, RS-25E will be developed for follow-on SLS launches.
- RL10 (LH2/LOX) – Developed by Pratt & Whitney and currently used on both the upper stage of the Delta IV as well as the Centaur upper stage for the Atlas V. Formerly used on the Centaur upper stage for Titan, the Saturn I, and on the vertical-landing McDonnell Douglas DC-X "Delta Clipper". It was intended to serve as the main propulsion engine for the proposed Altair lunar lander.
- RS-68 (LH2/LOX) – First stage engine for the Delta IV.
- J-2X (LH2/LOX) – Engine is under development as of 2013 to be used on the Earth Departure Stage for the Block II of the Space Launch System.
- Baby Bantam (kerosene/LOX) – In June 2014, Aerojet Rocketdyne announced that they had "manufactured and successfully tested an engine which had been entirely 3D printed." The engine is a Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value). thrust engine.[3]
- AJ-26 (RP-1/LOX) – Rebranded and modified NK-33 engines imported from Russia. Used as first stage engine for the Antares.
Former production engines
- SJ61 (JP-7/ingested air) A dual-mode ramjet/scramjet engine flown on the Boeing X-51 hypersonic demonstration vehicle.
- AJ-10 (A-50/N2O4) Second stage engine for the Delta II, used as OMS engine for Space Shuttle.
Proposed
AR1
The AR1 is a proposed 2,200-kilonewton-class (500,000 lbf) thrust RP-1/LOX rocket engine that Aerojet Rocketdyne proposed in 2014 to "lobby the government to fund an all-new, U.S.-sourced rocket propulsion system." As of June 2014[update] Aerojet's early projection was that the cost would be under US$25 million per pair of engines, not including the up to US$1 billion estimated development cost to be funded by the government.[4][5] Later in 2014, the US Congress passed a law requiring the US Air Force to "develop a new propulsion system by 2019 to replace the RD-180 engine" that powers Atlas V used by United Launch Alliance (ULA).[6]
ULA announced in early February 2015 that they are considering undertaking domestic production of the Russian RD-180 engine at its Decatur, Alabama rocket manufacturing facility. The US-manufactured engines would be used only for government civil (NASA) or commercial launches, and would not be used for US military launches. ULA CEO Tory Bruno also indicated that ULA is considering the AR1 option, along with the US manufacture of the RD-180 by ULA under license as backup options to the primary option ULA is pursuing for the Atlas V successor with the Blue Origin BE-4 methalox engine.[7]
The AR1 engine has the advantage of matching the fueling configuration of the current launch vehicle, but is disadvantaged by being much earlier in the development process for a new rocket engine.[8] In February 2015, the USAF released the results of its analysis of the project to build a new US government-funded engine in five years, and said that the "2019 deadline was too aggressive given that it would likely take six to eight years to develop an alternate U.S.-built engine, plus another year or two to integrate the new engine with existing rockets."[6] Aerojet Rocketdyne has stated a commitment to delivering the AR1 in 2019.[9]
In September 2015, AJR made an offer to buy ULA for US$2 billion. Shortly thereafter however, ULA and Blue Origin announced a joint agreement to expand production capabilities in order to manufacture the BE-4 rocket engine currently in development and test. ULA also reconfirmed that the decision on using the BE-4 vs. AJR AR1 for the new Vulcan rocket would not be made until late 2016, with maiden flight of Vulcan continuing to be planned for no earlier than 2019.[10] The U.S. Air Force awarded a $115 million contract to Aerojet Rocketdyne for development of the AR1 engine to be completed in 2019. Contract options could increase government funding up to $501 million.[11][12]
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Here's how Aerojet Rocketdyne might bring 5,000 new aerospace engineering jobs to Huntsville
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Aerojet, ULA Nab Air Force Contracts to Replace Russian Rocket Engine". Defense News, 29 February 2016.
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-aerojet-airforce-space-idUSKCN0W359D
