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ЦитироватьOrbital ATK, SpaceX Win Air Force Propulsion Contracts
by Mike Gruss (http://spacenews.com/author/mike-gruss/) — January 13, 2016
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155587.jpg)A Blue Origin's BE-3 engine undergoes testing at the company's West Texas facility in 2013. Credit: Blue Origin
 
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force said Jan. 13 it has chosen to invest up to $241 million in rocket propulsion systems Orbital ATK and SpaceX pitched as a way to end Air Force dependence the Russian-built rocket engine it uses to launch most U.S. national security payloads.
In a press release announcing the contracts, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center said it could still make additional awards.
"The Air Force is still in negotiations with the remaining offerors and subsequent awards, if any, will occur over the next few months," the service said.
Orbital ATK won the biggest share of the money awarded Jan. 13. The Dulles, Virginia-based company stands to receive at least $46.9 million, and perhaps as much as $180 million, to develop three rocket propulsion system prototypes intended for use on an Orbital ATK next-generation launch vehicle.
Specifically, Orbital ATK will combine the Air Force money with at least $31 million, and as much as $124 million, of its own to develop the GEM 63XL strap-on solid rocket motor, the Common Booster Segment solid rocket motor, and an extendable nozzle for Blue Origin's BE-3U upper stage engine.
SpaceX, meanwhile, will get at least $33.6 million, and perhaps as much as $61 million, to continue development of its methane-fueled Raptor engine. SpaceX is expected to match the Air Force's investment in Raptor with at least $67 million, and as much as $123 million, according to the Air Force contract announcement.
The Air Force is under pressure to end its dependence on the RD-180, the Russian-built engine that powers the main stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket.
Congress has directed the Defense Department to develop a domestic propulsion systems that would enable the Air Force by 2019 to end its reliance on RD-180.
When the Air Force solicited proposals in June, it said it was willing to fund work on both main- and upper-stage rocket engines.
The Air Force has said industry would be expected to cover at least one-third of the costs of their proposed development efforts, but the actual size of the government investment would vary from proposal to proposal

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185455.jpg) Mike Gruss ‏@Gruss_SN  (https://twitter.com/Gruss_SN)
Air Force announcement says Orbital-ATK's next-generation rocket could use Blue Origin BE-3 for its upper stage engine.
 14:16 - 13 янв. 2016 г.

ЦитироватьAir Force Awards Two Rocket Propulsion System Prototype OTAs

 Posted 1/13/2016   Updated 1/13/2016 
 
1/13/2016 - LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.  -- Today the Space and Missile Systems Center awarded the first two Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) for shared public-private investments in Rocket Propulsion System (RPS) prototypes to SpaceX for development testing of the Raptor upper stage engine and Orbital ATK for development of the Common Booster Segment main stage, the Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) 63XL strap-on booster, and an extendable nozzle for Blue Origin's BE-3U/EN upper stage engine.  The initial government contribution to the SpaceX OTA is $33.6 million.  The initial government contribution to the Orbital ATK OTA is $46.9 million.  The Air Force is still in negotiations with the remaining offerors and subsequent awards, if any, will occur over the next few months.  The OTA awards are part of a comprehensive Air Force plan to transition off the Russian- supplied RD-180 propulsion system used on the Atlas V rocket by investing in industry solutions with the ultimate goal to competitively procure launch services in a domestic launch market.
 
 "Having two or more domestic, commercially viable launch providers that also meet national security space requirements is our end goal," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, the Air Force's Program Executive Officer for Space and SMC commander.  "These awards are essential in order to solidify U.S. assured access to space, transition the EELV program away from strategic foreign reliance, and support the U.S. launch industry's commercial viability in the global market."
 
 The Air Force will award a portfolio of investments in industry's RPS solutions, which vary depending on what industry proposed.  The solicitation allowed companies to submit proposals for the development of a RPS prototype, which ranged from full development of a new RPS, modifications to an existing RPS to meet NSS requirements, smaller projects to address high risk items for an RPS or subcomponents, or activities required to test or qualify a new or existing RPS to meet EELV requirements.  Therefore, the value of each agreement varies depending on what was proposed. At least one third of the total cost of the RPS prototype project will be paid out of funds provided by parties to the transactions other than the federal government.
 
 These RPS investments, which will initially occur over the course of 12-18 months, will build the foundation for future investments in industry launch system solutions and launch service commitments from invested companies.  Concurrently, the Air Force will continue to award launch services contracts to certified providers who demonstrate the capability to design, produce, qualify, and deliver launch systems and provide the mission assurance support required to deliver national security space satellites to orbit.
 
 Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the U.S. Air Force's center of acquisition excellence for acquiring and developing military space systems. Its portfolio includes the Global Positioning System, Military Satellite Communications, Defense Meteorological Satellites, Space Launch and Range Systems, Satellite Control Networks, Space Based Infrared Systems and Space Situational Awareness capabilities.

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
Т.е. ЦБ и ускорители твердотопливные собственного производства

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
Еще одна ракета? Зачем?

ЦитироватьДимитър пишет:
Ведь ULA делает такую ракету

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
По наводке с NSF. Много букв. Скопировал только интересное.

 http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS29/20150626/103668/HHRG-114-AS29-Wstate-CulbertsonF-20150626.pdf

ЦитироватьHouse Armed Services Committee
Strategic Forces Subcommittee
26 June 2015

 Testimony Presented by Frank L. Culbertson, Jr., Capt, USN (ret) President/Space Systems Group Orbital ATK, Inc.

ЦитироватьAs both a launch vehicle builder and a propulsion system supplier, Orbital ATK is uniquely
positioned to support the Air Force RPS Prototype Program. Orbital ATK has proposed both
solid and liquid propulsion developments that will support a new all-American launch vehicle family that meets all the specified national security launch requirements as well as civil
government, commercial and international launch needs. Our new systems will be developed in
a public/private partnership with significant private investment supplementing government
funding. We are confident that our alternatives will be ready to support first flights by early
2019. For our vehicles and propulsion systems, we will combine advanced solid rocket motor and liquid engine technologies to create a modular family of highly affordable and commercially competitive launch vehicles. Beyond their contribution to assured and affordable access to space, these new systems will also strengthen our country's technology base and increase its industrial utilization to benefit the U.S. Navy and Air Force's strategic missile, MDA's missile defense and NASA's human space flight programs as well.

ЦитироватьRecommendations

3. Encourae the Air Force to expand its EELV Phase 2 proam to include consideration of
 medium-lift vehicles in adtion to intermediate- and heavy-lift launchers. As satellite
architectures continue to evolve over the next 25 to 30 years, when these new launch vehicles are
operational, many types of space payloads are likely to become lighter and not require heavy
launch capabilities. By ensuring the full consideration of medium-lift vehicles in its plans, DoD
will provide even stronger incentives to industry to invest in a broader range of launch and
propulsion systems and to further drive down launch costs.

Орбитал АТК предлагает ВВС новое "полностью американское" семейство РН среднего класса, которое может быть готово к первым полетам в 2019.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

Судя по этому они хотят двигатель Blue Origin.

ЦитироватьNew Liquid Propulsion Ennes
While the Urn'fed States is the world's undisputed leader in development and production of solid
rocket motors, the same cannot be said for our current position related to large liquid rocket
engines. Fortunately, this deficiency is now being addressed by several new and innovative
liquid propulsion system suppliers. In particular, we are impressed by the progress being made
 by Blue Origin in its BE-3 and BE-4 liquid hydrogen and methane engine programs which are
being developed with private investment. Based on the progress thus far, the BE-3\BE-4 engines
have the potential to advance United States liquid rocket engines far ahead of what is currently
being produced overseas. And like the solid propulsion technology we are developing internally, we believe the BE engines can be available for operational use by 2019 and will be offered at commercially attractive prices.
In addition, Blue Origin has committed to be a merchant supplier of its liquid engines, making
them available to all interested U.S. launch vehicle integrators. As a result, competition among
vehicle companies will be promoted and production rates on BE engines will be increased,
leading to lower costs for all launch service customers.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Вряд-ли ракете с твердотопливной первой ступенью нужны еще ускорители. Эти ускорители для Атласа и Вулкана.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185455.jpg) Mike Gruss ‏@Gruss_SN  (https://twitter.com/Gruss_SN)  
Rob Meyerson, president of Blue Origin, on the Air Force's rocket contract awards tonight:  
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159233.jpg)
  20:17 - 13 янв. 2016 г.  

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Тут скорее что-то вроде уменьшенного ускорителя SLS будет. Его-то точно хватит.

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Тут скорее что-то вроде уменьшенного ускорителя SLS будет. Его-то точно хватит.

не хватит. я сам удивился когда читал, даже пересчитывал. постараюсь найти статью

ЦитироватьOrbital Developing Rocket To Compete With SpaceX, ULA

WASHINGTON – Orbital ATK is developing a new intermediate to heavy-class rocket that could eventually compete with SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to launch national security satellites.

The recently merged rocketmaker, based out of Dulles, Virginia, won a $46 million U.S. Air Force contract as part of the service's efforts to help wean itself from the Russian rocket engine used in launching most military satellites. Some of Orbital ATK's new work will be used in ULA's next-generation Vulcan rocket. But the Air Force said in a Jan. 13 announcement that the technologies, including a Common Booster Segment solid rocket motor, "are intended for use on an Orbital ATK next generation launch vehicle."

Orbital ATK officials confirmed Jan. 14 that the company was studying a medium- to heavy-class rocket that would compete in the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The new rocket, which does not have a name, would primarily be powered by solid motors, said Mark Pieczynski, vice president of business development for Orbital ATK's flight systems group.

A first flight could come as soon as 2019, he said.

"Orbital ATK is evaluating concepts that utilize solid propulsion elements as the basis of an American-built, intermediate to heavy class family of EELVs capable of launching Air Force and other payloads," Pieczynski said in an email. "The solid propulsion and propulsion elements we are developing under this agreement will help achieve low-cost assured access for current and future National Security Space launch requirements."

Blue Origin's BE-3 engine is the leading candidate to become the rocket's upper stage engine, although Orbital ATK is studying other options as well, Pieczynski said. The BE-3 also is one of three upper-stage engines ULA is considering for Vulcan.

Congress has directed the Defense Department to develop domestic propulsion systems that would enable the Air Force by 2019 to end its reliance on the Russian RD-180 rocket engine, used to power ULA's Atlas 5 rocket.

Before Orbital Sciences and ATK merged in February 2015, the two companies had considered independent and joint responses to the Air Force's request for propulsion solutions. Both were long thought to have an interest in the national security market by industry and government officials. In 2014, ATK executives argued solid-rocket motors are a relatively near-term replacement and less expensive option than liquid fueled engines, despite a preference from lawmakers for a plug-and-play option to replace the RD-180.

With the Jan. 13 award, Pieczynski said Orbital ATK would spend much of its time in the next few months determining the optimum size of the solid rocket motors.

The base Air Force contract would cover qualification testing, structural testing and a critical design review in the first half of 2017. If the Air Force exercises all options, the contract could include a static fire test in 2018 and a test flight in 2019.

Orbital ATK submitted a letter of intent to the Air Force last year to start the certification process that would allow the rocket to launch national security payloads.

Pieczynski said the development of a certification plan, which includes how many successful launches the rocket would need before flying Defense Department payloads, would begin in the first half of this year.

If certified, the new rocket would compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets and ULA's Delta 4 Heavy and Vulcan rockets. The Air Force and U.S. lawmakers have put a premium on having what they call "assured access to space." By policy that would mean the Defense Department would have at least two providers to launch military and spy satellites.

The emphasis on assured access comes because Air Force leaders are concerned about a potential gap in future years. ULA has said it is retiring its Delta 4 rocket around 2018, leaving the company's Atlas 5 rocket for medium-class missions to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. However, the future of the Atlas 5 has been clouded by questions about the availability of the Russian engine that powers the rocket.

In addition, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket has yet to make its first flight, leaving ULA's Delta 4 Heavy as the only heavy-class rocket available to the Defense Department.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
ТТУ от SLS + большая водородная ступень на J-2X = Арес 1 (25 т). Даже если то и другое уменьшить в 2 раза (как раз получится BE-3) все равно будет куда больше Антареса.

ЦитироватьKSC could launch new Orbital ATK rocket
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/226318.webp) James Dean (http://www.floridatoday.com/staff/10179/james-dean/), FLORIDA TODAY 3:09 p.m. EDT April 21, 2016
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/226311.webp)
(Photo: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

NASA today will announce it has begun negotiations with Orbital ATK about the potential use of Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building and other facilities to support launches of a new commercial rocket.
The rocket is in the very early stages of development as a possible competitor to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance vehicles, and its future funding is uncertain, but Orbital ATK has said it could be ready to launch as soon as 2019.
If it does materialize, a deal with Orbital ATK would further KSC's vision of becoming a "multi-user spaceport" by making commercial use of a facilities now needed only for NASA missions.
Today's announcement follows KSC's request last year for proposals from private companies interested in using the assembly building's vacant High Bay 2, where space shuttles were once assembled for launches, as well as former shuttle mobile launch platforms.
Use of that infrastructure would position a large rocket to launch from KSC's pad 39B, whose primary purpose is to support liftoffs of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion exploration capsule starting in late 2018.
Orbital ATK's proposed rocket, so far unnamed, would pair a solid-fueled first stage booster with an upper stage engine provided by Blue Origin.
The rocket would aim to win Air Force certification to launch national security missions, and would not displace Orbital ATK's smaller Antares rocket launched from Wallops Island, Virginia.
The Air Force earlier this year awarded Orbital ATK $47 million to study the new concept as part of a broader program to develop domestic alternatives to the Russian RD-180 engine flown by ULA's Atlas V rocket, which launches most U.S. military missions.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, SpaceX and ULA also won Air Force study contracts to study new propulsion systems.
Orbital ATK and NASA officials declined to comment on the pending announcement.

ЦитироватьРешение о выводе в свободную продажу ракетных двигателей боевых баллистических ракет лоббирует компания Orbital ATK

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK and NASA have entered into an agreement to begin negotiations over the potential use of High Bay 2 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The discussions, which also include the use of a former Shuttle Mobile Launch Platform (MLP), are being aligned towards Orbital ATK's future possibilities involving the development of an EELV-class Next Generation Launch vehicle.

ЦитироватьThe company also added the potential agreement with KSC does not affect its medium-class Antares rocket's home port, which is located at Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia.

ЦитироватьDraft House bill would scramble Air Force's rocket engine plan

by Mike Gruss (http://spacenews.com/author/mike-gruss/) — April 25, 2016

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155441.jpg)
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (above) and Rep. Mike Rogers , the chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee, have traded a series of letters with Air Force leaders this year explaining their preference for a so-called engine-only approach to end reliance on the RD-180. Credit: House Republican Conference


WASHINGTON – The House Armed Services Committee is set to take up an authorization bill this week that would insist the Pentagon invest in a new main stage engine  — not an upper stage engine, strap-on motors or launch vehicles as the Air Force has planned — as the cornerstone of its effort to wean itself from the Russian RD-180 rocket engine.
The proposed restrictions essentially would forbid the Air Force from funding several recently announced co-investment deals with Orbital ATK, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance beyond this year. The Air Force doled out $317 million worth of contracts to help fund Orbital ATK's development of  a new solid-fueled launcher,  SpaceX's  development a new upper-stage engine, and ULA's development of  Vulcan, a potentially reusable successor to the RD-180 powered Atlas 5 rocket.
The Air Force's only other partnership is with Aerojet Rocketdyne, which stands to receive up to $536 million to develop AR-1, a kerosene-fuled engine that the Sacramento, California-company is pitching as an RD-180 replacement that would also be suitable for Vulcan if ULA drops plans to use Blue Origin's methane-fueled BE-4 engine instead.
The proposed funding restrictions are part of the House Armed Services Committee's version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017, which will be released April 25 ahead of a planned April 27 session to amend and vote on the bill.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas.), the committee chairman, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee, have traded a series of letters with Air Force leaders this year explaining their preference for a so-called engine-only approach to end reliance on the RD-180.
The Air Force relies on the RD-180 engines ULA imports from Russia's NPO Energomash through Florida-based RD AMROSS to launch the lion's share of U.S. national security satellites. Following Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, a chorus of U.S. lawmakers and senior Pentagon officials have been calling for ending use of the RD-180. But figuring out exactly how and when to make the transition away from an RD-180-powered Atlas 5 has been a repeated point of contention.

"The Committee shares the concern of many members that reliance on Russian-designed rocket engines is no longer acceptable," the committee said April 25. "The Chairman's Proposal, as recommended by Chairman Rogers of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, denies the Air Force's request to pursue the development, at taxpayer expense, of new commercial launch systems. It instead focuses on the development of a new American engine to replace the Russian RD-180 by 2019 to protect assured access to space and to end reliance on Russian engines. The Mark also holds the Air Force accountable for its awards of rocket propulsion contracts that violated the FY15 and FY16 NDAAs."

In its budget request for fiscal year 2017, the Air Force said it plans to spend $1.2 billion over the next five years, including $296 million in 2017, on what they described as a next-generation launch system. Their plan calls for investing in upgrades to existing rockets or investing in entirely new systems from domestic launch providers including SpaceX, Orbital ATK and ULA.
But Rogers has repeatedly said the Air Force's plan violates the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act by focusing on new launch systems instead of developing a domestic alternative to the RD-180.
"The funds would not be authorized to be obligated or expended to develop or procure a launch vehicle, an upper stage, a strap-on motor, or related infrastructure," says a draft of the 2017 defense authorization bill. Industry officials expect several launch-related amendments to come up when the full committee meets to markup the bill April 27,
The bill, as drafted, would leave Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1 engine as the only piece of the Air Force's portfolio of rocket-propulsion partnerships that meets the new criteria. The proposed restrictions would also require any unobligated money from 2015 or 2016 follow the same guidelines.

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
кажется ULA снова пролетает

ЦитироватьThe latest Aviation Week says OATK's proposed rocket would use Common Booster Cores that produce 1.1 million pounds of liftoff thrust and an LH2 stage powered by a BE-3U/EN engine.  It says that "cores" are involved in the basic rocket, which seems to support the two-stage idea.  It also says that two or more cores would be strapped to the basic core if more lift were needed.  In addition, GEM-63 motors will be offered as an option to augment the Common Booster Core.

The first Common Booster Core static test is planned for 2018 and the first flight for 2019.Work will be performed in Magna, Utah, Iuka, Mississippi, and Chandler, Arizona.  

 - Ed Kyle

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
В первую очередь пролетают SpaceX и Orbital ATK. А ULA пытаются всунуть двигатель, который они не хотят.

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
В первую очередь пролетают SpaceX и Orbital ATK. А ULA пытаются всунуть двигатель, который они не хотят.

для спейсов это мелкая неудача, там деньги смешные. для ULA же это будет полный отказ от финансирования вулкана за бабки правительства - это ставит на будущем конторы крест.

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
кто нить понимает, что у ATK за Common Booster Cores?

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
В цитате выше предполагается что две.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
кажется ULA снова пролетает

В первую очередь пролетают SpaceX и Orbital ATK. А ULA пытаются всунуть двигатель, который они не хотят.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
В цитате выше предполагается что две.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
It says that "cores" are involved in the basic rocket, which seems to support the two-stage idea.

ЦитироватьИскандер пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
В цитате выше предполагается что две.

Где? Там про двухступенчатую "базовую" РН - первая ТТ ступень, вторая водородная, а GEMы это ж "ускорители". ))) Нет?

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
It says that "cores" are involved in the basic rocket, which seems to support the two-stage idea.

ЦитироватьThe latest Aviation Week says OATK's proposed rocket would use Common Booster Cores that produce 1.1 million pounds of liftoff thrust and an LH2 stage powered by a BE-3U/EN engine.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29262.jpg) Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  7 ч.7 часов назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/728218006376087552)  
Thompson: decision in the first half of next year on whether to proceed; overall program would take about four years.
 
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29262.jpg) Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  7 ч.7 часов назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/728217837555290114)  
Dave Thompson: Orbital ATK starting work on a "modular" large launch vehicle; Air Force contract earlier this year covers initial work.

ЦитироватьStephen Clark‏@StephenClark1 (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1)

Orbital ATK's John Steinmeyer: Proposed next-gen launcher is three stages, crowned with Blue Origin BE-3 third stage

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:
Опять Ares I ?

ЦитироватьBoosters:

[/li]
• 1-6 GEM63XL (same as on Vulcan, maybe also on Atlas V later on)
  

Stage 1:

[/li]
• Intermediate - 2 segment SRM
• Heavy - 4 segment SRM
  

Stage 2:

[/li]
• Castor 300? or XXL? can't read it
  

Stage 3:

[/li]
• BE-3U-powered
  

Fairing:
*5.25x15m

Цитироватьronatu пишет:
http://www.reuters.com/article/space-orbital-rocket-idUSL5N18L67O

ЦитироватьTue May 24, 2016 5:08pm EDT
Orbital planning new rocket to compete for U.S. military launches
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. | By Irene Klotz

 May 24 Orbital ATK on Tuesday unveiled plans for a new rocket to compete against United Launch Alliance and Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies for missions to launch U.S. military and commercial satellites.
Orbital's Next Generation Launcher is based on the solid-rocket strap-on boosters that flew on NASA's space shuttles, Orbital Business Development Director John Steinmeyer said at the 2016 Space Congress conference in Cape Canaveral.
The company plans to buy the rocket's second stage from Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin.
Currently, United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co and Musk's SpaceX, as the California-based firm is known, are the only companies certified to launch U.S. military and national security satellites.
"We're working cooperatively with the Air Force to make sure there's room for three players," Steinmeyer said in an interview with Reuters.
Orbital would launch the rocket from one of the space shuttle's old launchpads at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
If the Air Force maintained requirements for a West Coast launch site as well, Orbital could refurbish a pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Steinmeyer said.
Orbital in January won an Air Force contract worth up to $180 million to develop rocket propulsion technologies. Steinmeyer declined to say how much Orbital was investing in the project.
Orbital, meanwhile, is preparing to return its refurbished Antares rocket to flight, following a launch accident in October 2014 that destroyed a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.
The rocket, which has been outfitted with new engines, is scheduled for a test firing at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on May 31, Steinmeyer said. The rocket is scheduled to fly in early July to deliver another cargo capsule to the station for NASA.

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
3) у ареса все же 5 сегментный бустер

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
отсюда не вижу никакого сходства с аресом

ЦитироватьDetails of Orbital ATK's proposed heavy launcher revealed             
 May 27, 2016 (http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/05/) Stephen Clark (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)  
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/154944.jpg) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/154944.jpg)
A fivei-segment solid rocket motor designed as a strap-on booster for NASA's Space Launch System undergoes a test firing at Orbital ATK's Utah plant. The company's Next-Generation Launcher would use a derivative of the booster with composite casings and only two or four segments. Credit: NASA
 
The launch vehicle Orbital ATK wants to face off against SpaceX and United Launch Alliance for lucrative U.S. military contracts would be made of two internally-built solid rocket motors and an upper stage engine supplied by Blue Origin, the entrepreneurial space firm led by Jeff Bezos, an Orbital ATK official said this week.
The new rocket, dubbed the Next-Generation Launcher for now, would offer the U.S. Air Force a third option to launch the military's communications, navigation, early warning and intelligence-gathering satellites.
"The intention is that this will be a new family of launchers developed and qualified as a public-private partnership with joint Air Force and industry investment, and available for satellite launches as early as 2020," said John Steinmeyer, director of strategy and business development for Orbital ATK's launch vehicle division.
Only SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and ULA's Atlas 5 and Delta 4 launchers are currently certified to fly the Defense Department's most sensitive and costly payloads.
But ULA is retiring the base, medium-lift version of the Delta 4 around 2018, and a new Vulcan rocket with U.S.-built main engines is scheduled to debut in 2019, eventually replacing the Atlas 5 in the early 2020s.
At that time, ULA's Vulcan rocket and SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles will likely share the military's space launch load. The Pentagon requires two independent rocket families to ensure its satellites have a ride to space if one booster is unavailable.
Steinmeyer said Orbital ATK will only go forward with its new rocket development if assured of Air Force funding support, but he said the company's launcher design has "moderate" development costs.
The Air Force awarded contracts to Orbital ATK, ULA, SpaceX and engine-maker Aerojet Rocketdyne earlier this year, helping seed the design and testing of new rocket engines to wean the U.S. launch industry off of Russian propulsion systems, such as the RD-180 engine launching on the Atlas 5's first stage.
The agreements are structured in a cost-sharing scheme. For its part, Orbital ATK pledged $31.1 million to go with the Air Force's initial investment of $46.9 million. Orbital ATK's contract with the Air Force has a maximum value of $180.2 million, and the company's own funding of the propulsion work could go as high as $124.8 million, assuming all contract options are exercised, according to the Defense Department.
Orbital ATK chairman and chief executive David Thompson said earlier this month that the company will decide next year whether to proceed with the Next-Generation Launcher program.
"If the market indicators and the product performance continue to move in a favorable direction, (it) could lead to a decision some time about this time next year or little later relating to the remaining work to actually build and test the vehicle," Thompson said May 5.
"We're evaluating our options," Steinmeyer said. "It's kind of like a political campaign, where you have an exploratory committee."
No U.S. company currently offers a kerosene-fueled rocket engine in the same performance class as the RD-180. ULA's Delta 4 rocket is powered by a hydrogen-burning RS-68 engine manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne, and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket uses a cluster of nine kerosene-fueled Merlin engines to produce the thrust required for takeoff.
"The dollar value that we are requesting from the Air Force to go forward would be substantially less than others have stated is required for their RD-180 replacement activities," Steinmeyer told reporters Tuesday at the Space Congress 2016 industry conference in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
He declined to share Orbital ATK's cost projections for the Next-Generation Launcher.
Orbital ATK officials have previously acknowledged the new rocket concept, but Steinmeyer revealed details of its design for the first time this week.
The three-stage rocket would be made of two solid-fueled lower stages, each made in-house by Orbital ATK, and a cryogenic third stage consuming liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The engine for the third stage would be the BE-3U powerplant, a derivative of the engine Blue Origin currently flies on its New Shepard suborbital rocket.
The basic version of the Next-Generation Launcher would have a two-segment Castor 600 first stage, topped with a Castor 300 second stage motor, which is essentially one segment of the rocket's first stage, according to Steinmeyer.
The solid-fueled motors are similar to the solid rocket boosters Orbital ATK and its predecessor companies built for the space shuttle and NASA's Space Launch System. But the new rocket's motors would use pre-packed propellants inside composite cases, which are lighter than the metallic steel casings flown on the shuttle and SLS.
That development of the lightweight casings is one focus of the Air Force's initial funding award to Orbital ATK earlier this year, Steinmeyer said.
The two-segment Castor 600 first stage could be lengthened to a four-segment version called the Castor 1200.
"It's a very modular design tailored to meet the full specturm of EELV launch capability, and by adding two additional segments to that two-segment first stage, in other words a four-segment first stage, we can meet heavy launch capability as well," Steinmeyer said.
Up to six strap-on solid rocket boosters — the same 63-inch-diameter auxiliary motors Orbital ATK is developing for ULA's Vulcan and Atlas 5 rockets — could be stacked around the base of the Next-Generation Launcher.
The BE-3U engine on the 5.25-meter diameter (17.2-foot) third stage would produce up to 120,000 pounds of thrust and fire multiple times per mission.
A payload shroud spanning 5.25 meters (17.2 feet) in diameter will top off Orbital ATK's proposed rocket.
According to Steinmeyer, the basic intermediate-class launcher, without strap-on motors, can put about 12,125 pounds (5.5 metric tons) into geostationary transfer orbit, the destination for most commercial and military communications satellites.
"This new vehicle concept leverages existing flight-proven elements," Steinmeyer said.
Orbital ATK's business case requires five or six launches of the rocket per year for the military, NASA, or commercial customers, he said.
Designers plan to put the rocket together inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, then roll it out to launch pad 39B. NASA sel ected Orbital ATK in April to begin negotiations to take over one of the high bays inside the mammoth assembly building.
Orbital ATK would share pad 39B with NASA's Space Launch System, a huge rocket the agency is developing to send astronauts into deep space. But the SLS will not fly more than once per year, leaving the launch pad available to other users most of the time.
The new launcher shares some design elements with the Liberty rocket concept pushed by ATK, one of Orbital ATK's predecessor companies, after the retirement of the space shuttle. The Liberty launcher would have had a large solid-fueled first stage resembling the shuttle's booster and a cryogenic upper stage based on Europe's Ariane 5 rocket.
The rocket now proposed by Orbital ATK would use different propulsion systems, but like Liberty, it would be assembled in the VAB and blast off from pad 39B.
"There are elements of that concept — the segmented booster — and actually a lot of the work that they did on the launch infrastructure here at KSC," Steinmeyer said. "We're taking full advantage of the extensive work that ATK had done previously with Liberty, primarily on the launch vehicle infrastructure side."
Orbital ATK has an eye on renovating Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for a West Coast launch site for the Next-Generation Launcher. A facility there would access polar orbits unreachable from Cape Canaveral.
Steinmeyer said the Air Force is expected to request proposals fr om industry for a complete launch vehicle design, and Orbital ATK will likely be up against ULA and SpaceX for government financial assistance. It is not clear how many companies the Air Force could support with funding.
Unlike SpaceX and Blue Origin, Orbital ATK is a public company, and Steinmeyer said development of the Next-Generation Launcher will require some level of government funding.
"At this time, it's contingent on some cooperative assistance with the Air Force," Steinmeyer said. "It's a different paradigm, but we're a publicly traded company. We have stockholders and a board of directors we have to answer to. The business case has to close."

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
3) у ареса все же 5 сегментный бустер

Так это его просто разбили на 2 ступени 1 + 2 или 1 + 4 сегмента. Castor-300/600/1200 как раз подходит под их систему именования.

Кстати их каталог (https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/propulsion-systems/GEM-strapon-booster-system/docs/orbital_atk_motor_catalog_(2012).pdf)

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
отсюда не вижу никакого сходства с аресом

1. Низ ТТУ на основе ускорителя шаттла
2. Верхняя водородная ступень, правда раза в 2 меньше чем была у Ареса-1
3. Старт с LC-39B, вертикальная интеграция в VAB

Это одинаково можно считать и Мини-Аресом-1 и твердотопливным Атласом.

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
"It's a very modular design tailored to meet the full specturm of EELV launch capability, and by adding two additional segments to that two-segment first stage, in other words a four-segment first stage, we can meet heavy launch capability as well," Steinmeyer said

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
Интересно можеть быть конкуренция с Маском если у него получится с повторными запусками. Ускорители шаттла как-бы использовали повторно - интересно тут смогут использовать повторно первую ступень?

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:
- и всё-таки зачем им тысячи списанных двигателей МБР? (задумчиво  :oops: )

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:
- и всё-таки зачем им тысячи списанных двигателей МБР? (задумчиво  :oops:  )

откуда тысячи списанных МБР? их вроде всего то около 1000.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29262.jpg) Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust)  37 мин.37 минут назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/775814096826413056)  
Steinmeyer: making good progress on Air Force studies for a next-gen EELV-class launch vehicle. #AIAASpace (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AIAASpace?src=hash)

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3097/1

ЦитироватьStephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1  (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1) 18h18 hours ago (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/839495958157213696)

Orbital ATK's David Thompson: Expect a go/no go decision with the Air Force on next-generation launch vehicle in very late 2017/ early 2018.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

ЦитироватьStephen Clark ‏ @StephenClark1 18h18 hours ago (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/839495958157213696)

Orbital ATK's David Thompson: Expect a go/no go decision with the Air Force on next-generation launch vehicle in very late 2017/ early 2018.

Цитировать http://spacenews.com/orbital-atk-expects-decision-on-new-rocket-by-early-2018/
Orbital ATK expects decision on new rocket by early 2018

 by Jeff Foust — March 10, 2017

WASHINGTON — Orbital ATK expects a "go/no-go decision" by early next year on an Air Force-funded program to develop a new large launch vehicle.

In a call with analysts March 8 to discuss the company's latest financial results, company president and chief executive Dave Thompson said the company was making good progress on initial development of a vehicle that could carry intermediate and large payloads.

"We are so far performing very well and, fr om everything I can tell, the Air Force likes what we are doing and wh ere we are headed," Thompson said. "We expect a go/no-go decision in late 2017 or an early 2018 concerning the next phase of activity to actually build and test this new launch vehicle family."

Orbital ATK has released few details about what is known only as its "Next-Generation Launcher." The vehicle would use solid-fuel lower stages based on space shuttle solid rocket motor segments developed by the company, as well as solid strap-on boosters. A liquid-oxygen, liquid-hydrogen upper stage would use a version of Blue Origin's BE-3 engine that company is currently flying on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle.

The rocket's design has at least superficial similarities to a vehicle concept called Liberty that ATK proposed prior to its merger with Orbital Sciences Corporation. Liberty, with a five-segment shuttle solid rocket booster first stage and a second stage derived from the Ariane 5 core stage provided by Astrium, was itself a commercial spinoff of the cancelled Ares 1 rocket from NASA's Constellation program. ATK proposed Liberty for NASA's commercial crew program but failed to win funding.

...

Цитировать

Orbital ATK Completes Major Development Milestones in Next Generation Launch Vehicle Program

                                           

Company's Partnership with U. S. Air Force Focused on New Intermediate- and Large-Class Space Launch Vehicles

New Launchers to Use Company's Industry-Leading Solid Rocket Propulsion Technology and Other Modular Elements

Dulles, Virginia 3 April 2017 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that it has made important progress over the past 18 months in developing advanced solid rocket propulsion and other technologies to be used in a new generation of intermediate- and large-class space launch vehicles. Through a combination of internal investment and government funding from an Air Force contract awarded in late 2015 by the Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Systems Directorate, the company's Flight Systems Group recently completed design reviews, facility upgrades and tooling fabrication, and has now begun early production of development hardware for its Next Generation Launch (NGL) system.
 
The company's modular NGL rocket family will be capable of launching a wide variety of national security payloads, as well as science and commercial satellites that are too large to be launched by its current fleet of Pegasus, Minotaur and Antares space launch vehicles.  The NGL vehicles will operate from both east and west coast launch facilities and will share common propulsion, structures and avionics systems with other company programs, including its smaller space launch vehicles as well as missile defense interceptors, target vehicles and strategic missile systems. 
"The NGL program is a great example of how industry and government can work together to develop an American launch system to support national security space launch requirements," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "Orbital ATK is well-positioned to introduce an intermediate- and large-class family of launch vehicles by leveraging the strengths of the merged company to achieve low-cost assured space access for current and future national security payloads and other satellites."
Through commonality of hardware and other economies of scale, Orbital ATK's proposed launch system will also reduce the cost of other U.S. Government rocket and missile programs managed by the Air Force, Navy, NASA and Missile Defense Agency, saving taxpayers up to $600 million on these programs over a ten-year period.
Over the past 18 months, Orbital ATK has successfully completed critical design reviews for major elements of the company's solid propulsion stages, along with preliminary vehicle-level and launch site infrastructure reviews. The company has also refurbished a 60,000-square-foot production building, including installation of automated tooling, cranes and other equipment to enable the manufacture of large-diameter composite-case rocket motors. Recently, the company completed the manufacturing of prototype motor test articles to be used in verification activities this summer.
"The Orbital ATK NGL team, which now numbers several hundred engineers and technicians, has made tremendous progress since late 2015.  Building on this work, we are looking forward to providing the Air Force and other customers with a highly-reliable and cost-effective launch system within the next four years," said Lehr.
The next phase of the program is expected to commence when the Air Force awards Launch Services Agreements in early 2018, which would entail full vehicle and launch site development, with work taking place at company facilities in Promontory and Magna, Utah; Iuka, Mississippi; Chandler, Arizona; and Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
About Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 12,500 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com  (http://www.orbitalatk.com).

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK confident in prospects for large launch vehicle
by Jeff Foust (http://spacenews.com/author/jeff-foust/) — April 5, 2017

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(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155704.jpg)
Orbital ATK is developing the NGL rocket to launch from a multi-use pad at Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Orbital ATK artist's concept

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COLORADO SPRINGS — Orbital ATK says it is well positioned to win a U.S. Air Force competition early next year to support continued development of a new large launch vehicle to serve government and commercial users.

The company announced April 3 that it was making progress on what it calls the Next Generation Launch (NGL) program, on which the company and the Air Force have spent a combined $200 million to date through awards made as part of an effort to develop a replacement for United Launch Alliance's workhorse Atlas 5 rocket.

In an interview during the 33rd Space Symposium here, Mike Laidley, vice president of the NGL program at Orbital ATK, said the next major milestone for the program is the release this summer of a request for proposals from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) on the next phase of that effort, called the Launch Service Agreement (LSA).

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The Air Force plans to make up to three LSA awards in early 2018 to complete prototype vehicle development, including certification test flights. "I think we're pretty confident we're going to make the LSA downselect," Laidley said. "We have a high degree of confidence that we provide value to the Air Force."

That confidence is based on the progress Orbital ATK has made to date on elements of the NGL system, including through a Rocket Propulsion System award the company won from SMC in January 2016.

Laidley said the combined investment in the NGL program to date is about $200 million, with the Air Force providing two thirds of the investment and Orbital ATK one third. The NGL vehicle uses a combination of solid- and liquid-propellant stages. The lower two stages are solid motors, based in part on solid rocket motors the company built for the space shuttle and NASA's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket.

The NGL motors are similar in size to the shuttle and SLS motors, Laidley said, but use a composite case and a different propellant formulation to meet the performance requirements of the EELV program. One version of the NGL would use a two-segment solid motor, called the Castor 600, as the first stage, while a heavier version would use a four-segment motor, the Castor 1200.

Both would use a single-segment Castor 300 motor as the rocket's second stage, and have the option to use solid strap-on boosters. The rocket's upper stage will be powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. "We're in the process now of evaluating a couple of different engine options," Laidley said, with a decision "in the next month or so" on the engine the company will include in its proposal to the Air Force this summer. He declined to identify the specific engines under consideration.

"I think it's pretty clear what engine options are out there in the liquid oxygen/hydrogen realm," he said.

That would likely include Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10 and Blue Origin's BE-3U, the only American engines using those propellants and designed for use on upper stages. Orbital ATK's 2016 award included funding for developing an extendable nozzle for the BE-3U.

NGL launches from the East Coast would take place from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a former shuttle launch pad converted into a multi-user pad for the SLS and other vehicles.

Laidley said they will be able to use other facilities there, including the Vehicle Assembly Building and a mobile launch platform. The company is evaluating potential West Coast sites for launches into polar orbits.

Orbital ATK is assuming a mix of government and commercial customers for the NGL vehicles. "We've taken a really hard look at our business case for this vehicle, because it's a significant amount of investment for Orbital ATK," said Mark Pieczynski, vice president of business development and strategy. "We close our business case with three to four launches a year."

That would include a mix of Air Force, NASA and commercial missions, he said. Company officials declined to say whether they would continue the NGL program if it does not win an Air Force award next year. "The company is heavily committed to this," Laidley said. "But, obviously, government selection and having those missions as kind of our anchor tenant is kind of important to us."

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Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
"Интересна прежде всего цена пуска, коммерческая эффективность." - это апостериорная величина, на данный момент совершенно бессмысленная

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK is targeting a price below $100 million per launch. But this is certainly the list price for the simplest version. Military launches bring extra security and mission assurance requirements that drive up cost. 

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29262.jpg) Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust) 10 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/893104270689611776)

Thompson: expecting joint go/no-go decision with the Air Force late this year or early next year on next phase of Next Generation Launcher.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185973.jpg) Caleb Henry‏ @CHenry_SN (https://twitter.com/CHenry_SN) 4 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CHenry_SN/status/927944284074074113)

.@OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) testing hardware for Next Generation Launch (NGL) system. Now calling NGL "one of Orbital ATK's top growth initiatives"
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170597.jpg)

 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg) Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 12 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/928003389925085184)

Our Next Generation Launch Vehicle achieves critical milestone with completion of structural acceptance test http://bit.ly/2AgXk7O  (https://t.co/Z2i4SSj62l)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170611.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170612.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать

Orbital ATK Successfully Tests First Motor Case for Next Generation Launch Vehicle

NGL System Achieves Critical Milestone with Completion of Structural Acceptance Test

Dulles, Virginia 7 November 2017 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, announced it has successfully completed an important milestone in developing advanced solid rocket propulsion and other technologies to be used in a new generation of intermediate- and large-class space launch vehicles. The company is in early production of development hardware for its Next Generation Launch (NGL) system, and on October 27 successfully completed the structural acceptance test on the first motor high-strength composite case for this program.

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The applied structural loads during the test demonstrated over 110 percent of maximum expected motor operating pressure and 110 percent of operational/flight and pre-launch compressive/tensile line loads. This full-scale motor case segment will be cast with inert solid rocket propellant in early 2018 and shipped to the launch site for check-out of ground operations.

"NGL is one of Orbital ATK's top growth initiatives," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "This milestone clearly shows the progress being made by the hundreds of engineers and technicians in Utah and Arizona who are developing the NGL system."

Orbital ATK's NGL rocket family will be capable of launching the entire spectrum of national security payloads, as well as science and commercial satellites that are too large to be launched by the company's current Pegasus®, Minotaur and AntaresTM space launch vehicles. The NGL vehicles will share common propulsion, structures and avionics systems with other company programs, including smaller space launch vehicles as well as missile defense interceptors, target vehicles and strategic missile systems.

"By sharing a skilled workforce, facilities and subsystems across multiple programs, we've designed NGL to be affordable and reliable," said Lehr. "For example, NGL uses common avionics that have flown on more than 100 missions with 100 percent success."

The next phase of the program is expected to begin when the Air Force awards the Launch Services Agreement in mid-2018, which would entail full vehicle and launch site development, with work taking place at company facilities in Promontory and Magna, Utah; Iuka, Mississippi; Chandler, Arizona; Kennedy Space Center, Florida; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

About Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies.  The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier.  Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 13,000 people across the U.S. and in several international locations.  For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com (http://www.orbitalatk.com).

# # #

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ЦитироватьJames Drew‏Verified account @JamesDrewNews (https://twitter.com/JamesDrewNews) 11h11 hours ago (https://twitter.com/JamesDrewNews/status/941059923730944000)

.@OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) is considering the @AerojetRdyne (https://twitter.com/AerojetRdyne) RL10 or @ArianeGroup (https://twitter.com/ArianeGroup) Vinci rocket engine for its Next Generation Launcher upper stage after rejecting @blueorigin (https://twitter.com/blueorigin)'s BE-3U. Decision expected in Q12018. http://aviationweek.com/awinspace/orbital-atk-pick-upper-stage-engine-ngl ... (https://t.co/lN2Cwj19wG) JD @AviationWeek (https://twitter.com/AviationWeek)

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:

ЦитироватьJames Drew ‏Verified account @JamesDrewNews 11h11 hours ago (https://twitter.com/JamesDrewNews/status/941059923730944000)

. @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) is considering the @AerojetRdyne (https://twitter.com/AerojetRdyne) RL10 or @ArianeGroup (https://twitter.com/ArianeGroup) Vinci rocket engine for its Next Generation Launcher upper stage after rejecting @blueorigin (https://twitter.com/blueorigin) 's BE-3U. Decision expected in Q12018. http://aviationweek.com/awinspace/orbital-atk-pick-upper-stage-engine-ngl ... (https://t.co/lN2Cwj19wG) JD @AviationWeek (https://twitter.com/AviationWeek)

Цитироватьsilentpom пишет:
кому дало, у кого ноль?

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK's contract will fund the development of several propulsion system technologies, such as the Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) 63XL strap-on booster, the Common Booster Segment main stage, and an extendable nozzle for Kent, WA-based Blue Origin's BE-3U/EN engine.


The GEM 63XL booster is a solid-fueled motor intended to replace the Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60 booster, currently used on the Atlas V, and is intended to be used on the under-development ULA Vulcan launch system. Details on the Common Booster Segment aren't known yet.
The development of an extendable nozzle for the BE-3U/EN engine, which burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, represents a novel direction for Orbital ATK. Extendable nozzles, if able to change the rocket nozzle in flight, can improve efficiency of the engine over a larger envelope of altitude. Traditionally, de Laval nozzles (traditional bell nozzles) are optimized for a specific altitude and atmospheric pressure and operate sub-optimally for a large part of their flight. Altitude-compensating nozzles are an integral part of many new space launch vehicle concepts, and represented a large part of the development effort behind Lockheed Martin's failed X-33 demonstrator.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Не факт что они реально получили эти деньги. Или например BO не захотели делать вакуумную версию двигателя. У них сейчас с BE-4 работы выше крыши (и вакуумный BE-4U кстати тоже нужен). Или оказалось, что BE-3U сильно проигрывает альтернативным вариантам. Причин может быть много.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/14/orbital-atk-spacex-new-engine-contract/

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK's contract will fund the development of several propulsion system technologies, such as the Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) 63XL strap-on booster, the Common Booster Segment main stage, and an extendable nozzle for Kent, WA-based Blue Origin's BE-3U/EN engine .


The GEM 63XL booster is a solid-fueled motor intended to replace the Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60 booster, currently used on the Atlas V, and is intended to be used on the under-development ULA Vulcan launch system. Details on the Common Booster Segment aren't known yet.
The development of an extendable nozzle for the BE-3U/EN engine, which burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, represents a novel direction for Orbital ATK. Extendable nozzles, if able to change the rocket nozzle in flight, can improve efficiency of the engine over a larger envelope of altitude. Traditionally, de Laval nozzles (traditional bell nozzles) are optimized for a specific altitude and atmospheric pressure and operate sub-optimally for a large part of their flight. Altitude-compensating nozzles are an integral part of many new space launch vehicle concepts, and represented a large part of the development effort behind Lockheed Martin's failed X-33 demonstrator.

Не факт что они реально получили эти деньги. Или например BO не захотели делать вакуумную версию двигателя. У них сейчас с BE-4 работы выше крыши (и вакуумный BE-4U кстати тоже нужен). Или оказалось, что BE-3U сильно проигрывает альтернативным вариантам. Причин может быть много.

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Или например BO не захотели делать вакуумную версию двигателя. У них сейчас с BE-4 работы выше крыши (и вакуумный BE-4U кстати тоже нужен).

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Или например BO не захотели делать вакуумную версию двигателя. У них сейчас с BE-4 работы выше крыши (и вакуумный BE-4U кстати тоже нужен).

Напоминаю, что он планировался на Vulcan.

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Или например BO не захотели делать вакуумную версию двигателя. У них сейчас с BE-4 работы выше крыши (и вакуумный BE-4U кстати тоже нужен).

Напоминаю, что он планировался на Vulcan.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)  Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK)  18 дек. (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/942848822102974464)
Join us live on our @facebook (https://twitter.com/facebook) page in one hour to learn more about our Next Generation Launch (NGL) System from engineer Steven Roebke! http://facebook.com/orbitalatk  (https://t.co/FBpDbCBE5Y)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/172192.jpg)

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Orbital ATK Signs Cooperative Agreement with U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center

Research and Development Agreement Enables Certification of Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch System

Dulles, Virginia 04 January 2018 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). The CRADA provides the framework and plan for data exchanges needed to certify Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch (NGL) system to carry National Security Space missions.

Спойлер

"Under this CRADA, Orbital ATK is better able to support SMC in being the guardians of assured access to space," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "We look forward to certifying NGL to launch National Security Space Missions."

Orbital ATK is currently in early production of development hardware for NGL. To date, the company has jointly invested with the Air Force more than $200 million to develop the NGL rocket family.

In addition to launching the entire spectrum of national security payloads, the NGL family of vehicles will be capable of launching science and commercial satellites that are too large to be launched by Orbital ATK's current Pegasus®, Minotaur and AntaresTM space launch vehicles. The NGL vehicles will share common propulsion, structures and avionics systems with other company programs, including smaller space launch vehicles as well as missile defense interceptors, target vehicles and strategic missile systems.

The next phase of the NGL program is expected to begin when the Air Force awards Launch Services Agreements in mid-2018, which would entail full vehicle and launch site development, with work taking place at company facilities in Promontory and Magna, Utah; Iuka, Mississippi; Chandler, Arizona; Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

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Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Verified account @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 12h ago (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/966445636391448576)

Orbital ATK technicians monitor operations as the second Common Boost Segment (CBS) case undergoes a recent successful hydro-proof test. CBS motors are being manufactured for our new Next-Generation Launch System.
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/173908.jpg)

ЦитироватьIn Production: Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch System

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220773.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLr1shBflPt0esLOrNFqAPA) Orbital ATK (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLr1shBflPt0esLOrNFqAPA)

Опубликовано: 27 февр. 2018 г.

Get an inside look at Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch System with engineer Katie Qian. We are currently developing the NGL family of rockets for the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186343.jpg)Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF) 9 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/979836352786296832)

Orbital ATK provides @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) with detailed, upd ated info on their #NGL (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NGL?src=hash) rocket, se t to debut from @NASAKennedy (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy) & pad-39B in early 2021. A solid rocket/liquid fuelled design that will be competitive in the current launcher market.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/03/orbital-atk-next-phase-ngl-rocket-development/ ... (https://t.co/73jPE07nM8)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/174781.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/981531277038903296)


Hi! I'm Deb Ocejo and I'm working on Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch (NGL) system. I'll be taking over Orbital ATK's @Twitter (https://twitter.com/Twitter) account for the day to give you an inside look at what it's like to work on the NGL program.
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/174669.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/981531280188813319)


I am the chief engineer for the company's Common Boost Segment (CBS) rocket motors, currently being designed for NGL

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/981543876849799168)


One of the best parts about my job is getting to see the hardware that we are building and the process that goes into designing and building each piece of the rocket.
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/174662.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 32 мин.32 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/981567108931883009)


#DYK (https://twitter.com/hashtag/DYK?src=hash) NGL will be the largest and most capable in a long line of Orbital ATK rockets? Today we have primary production and integration sites in 5 different states for NGL alone.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) сейчас22 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/981587259936919554)


A fun fact about my job is that even though we are basing our CBS designs on past motors, we have used improvements in materials and technology to make these truly advanced technology!
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/174670.jpg)

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK confident new rocket will win Air Force support             
 April 12, 2018 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/) Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/144335.jpg)Artist's concept of Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch system in flight. Credit: Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK's bid to join the U.S. military's roster of rockets to haul the most critical national security satellites into orbit faces stiff competition from entrenched launch providers and billionaire entrepreneurs, but the company is confident its Next Generation Launch system will win one of three funding agreements the Air Force is expected to award this summer.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing to sel ect up to three companies later this year for Launch Services Agreements, the Pentagon's name for cost-sharing public-private development contracts aimed at giving the military multiple launch options in the 2020s, all with U.S.-supplied propulsion systems.
Orbital ATK has launched orbital-class rockets more than 70 times, but the company's biggest booster — the Antares — is sized for medium-size payloads, finding a niche in NASA's program to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
The solid-fueled Next Generation Launch system proposed by Orbital ATK would more than double the Antares rocket's payload-carrying capability to most types of orbits, and enable Orbital ATK to place satellites into unique, harder-to-reach orbits that are currently not serviceable by any other launcher in the company's fleet.
"We're very confident that we're going to receive selections for the next phase," said Mike Laidley, Orbital ATK's vice president of the Next Generation Launch program. "We think that we offer the Air Force a good opportunity to maintain their prime directive of assured access to space. We think solid motor propulsion has a place in this market, and we're anxious to provide that."
 

Спойлер

Spaceflight Now members can read a transcript of our full interview (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/10/qa-with-mike-laidley-vice-president-of-orbital-atks-next-generation-launch-program/) with Mike Laidley. Become a member today and support our coverage.
The new rocket would build on solid-fueled rocket motors Orbital ATK built for the space shuttle, but engineers have replaced the shuttle-era motor's metallic casings with composite materials, reducing their weight and making the rockets easier to build.
"The key here is that there's some automated winding equipment that's going to make it more efficient for us, and it's an opportunity to refine our processes and build these large 12-foot diameter segmented designs in a very efficient manner compared to the metal cases that were used in the shuttle era," Laidley said.
United Launch Alliance, which was the only launch provider certified by the Air Force until 2015, is retiring most of the configurations in its Delta 4 rocket family in 2019, followed by the phase-out of the Delta 4-Heavy version in the early or mid-2020s. The company says the Delta 4 is no longer competitive on cost.
ULA's Atlas 5 will be replaced by the Vulcan rocket in the early 2020s, a two-stage launcher that will use U.S.-made engines. This Atlas 5, which is less expensive than the Delta 4, currently uses Russian-made RD-180 engines.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is the other major player in today's national security launch market. Since its certification by the Air Force in 2015, the Falcon 9 has won contracts to launch five GPS navigation satellites, and is in the running for more military launch deals.
The Falcon Heavy rocket, which flies with three modified Falcon 9 rocket boosters bolted together, is not yet eligible to launch the military's most expensive space missions. That certification will come once the Falcon Heavy accrues multiple successful flights, and goes through a detailed Air Force engineering review.
Orbital ATK is a newcomer to the market for launching large military communications, navigation and reconnaissance satellites. But Laidley says the company's Next Generation Launch system, which uses solid-fueled first and stage stage motors topped with a cryogenic liquid-fueled upper stage, is a solution the Air Force should consider.
"We've been working to develop a launch system that would support those EELV (Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle) mission requirements — all the different launch payload types and orbits," Laidley said. "We've been working on that now for about two-and-a-half years."
The Air Force awarded funding in 2016 to ULA, SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Aerojet Rocketdyne to work on U.S.-made propulsion technology to power new rockets, eyeing a replacement to the Russian RD-180 engine. The funding agreements required the companies to put forward some of their own money in the effort.
ULA directed much of its funding toward Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos which is testing the BE-4 engine fueled by liquified natural gas. ULA says Blue Origin's BE-4 engine is their preferred option to power the Vulcan rocket's first stage. SpaceX's slice of the Air Force engine money went toward the company's Raptor engine, a methane-fueled powerplant for a huge new rocket named the BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket.
Orbital ATK focused its funding on the Next Generation Launch system, while Aerojet Rocketdyne — an engine-builder, not a rocket operator — advanced the design of its AR1 engine, which ULA is keeping as a backup option for the Vulcan launcher in case the BE-4 runs into trouble.
Blue Origin received some Air Force propulsion funding routed through ULA for the BE-4 engine, but the lion's share of the company's engine development has been privately-funded.
The Air Force released a follow-up request for proposals in October, seeking bids for government funding to help launch companies pay for their next-generation rockets through the military's EELV program. The Launch Services Agreements will be announced in the next few months to fund continued work on up to three launch vehicles, followed by a down-select to two providers in late 2019.
Those two finalists will continue receiving government funding support through their rockets' test flights.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/144371.jpg)Artist's concept of Orbital ATK's Next Generation Launch system. Credit: Orbital ATK

ULA, SpaceX and Blue Origin are expected to compete for Launch Services Agreements.
Blue Origin's chief executive, Bob Smith, said last year the company is in early talks with the Air Force about certifying its own New Glenn rocket for national security missions, potentially placing Blue Origin in competition with ULA, one of its customers. An industry official familiar with matter said Thursday that Blue Origin has submitted a proposal for an Air Force Launch Services Agreement.
Lacking the financial backing and personality of a billionaire entrepreneur like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, Orbital ATK is flying under the radar. But the company received news earlier this year that keeps it in the competition.
Laidley said the Air Force informed Orbital ATK in February that the Next Generation Launch system proposal was within the "competitive range," and is eligible for further scrutiny leading up to a potential contract award.
"We've invested a lot of our money to date, so it was important for the Air Force to evaluate our proposal and say that it's adequate, and now any money we spend can ultimately be counted toward the cost share investment in the Launch Services Agreement," Laidley said in a recent interview with Spaceflight Now.
Orbital ATK said in January that the company and the Air Force have jointly invested more than $200 million on the NGL program.
Laidley declined to how much of Orbital ATK's own money has been applied to the NGL program, but the terms of the Air Force's 2016 funding agreement to support development the new rocket's solid-fueled propulsion system said the Air Force would supply between $46.9 million and $180.2 million for the program's first phase, with Orbital ATK pledging between $31.1 million and $124.8 million.
The Air Force requires that companies provide at least one-third of the development cost through internal funding.
"We're providing more than the minimum, but it's competitive, so we're not prepared to talk about our negotiation strategy," Laidley said.
Laidley also declined to provide cost estimates for an individual NGL mission.
"We will certainly be competitive," he said. "We took a hard look at what those missions have sold for historically, and we can be competitive in that marketplace.
"One of the opportunties we've got that others don't is we do have our own in-house supply of customers. We produce our own satellites. We buy launch services. We've historically bought launch services from both of these competitors that are currently in play. We have an in-house opportunity to capture work from our own team, and that makes us unique as well."
Orbital ATK says the Next Generation Launch system will benefit from upgraded avionics, computers and other technology based on components already used on the company's smaller rockets.
"We've got avionics that we've developed in-house in our launch vehicle division, and those avionics fly in all of our launch vehicle products, from our small targets that we sell to the Navy, all the way up to Antares," Laidley said. "As part of the NGL effort, we're developing a fault-tolerant version of those avionics, which basically involves taking multiple sets of software voting logic ... That gives the Air Force a lot of confidence that we have a system that's got a solid flight history."
If Orbital ATK wins additional Air Force funding this summer, Laidley said engineers will advance the design of the entire rocket, which has so far been limited to funding from the company's own coffers. The Air Force money already awarded to Orbital ATK could only be used on developing the NGL system's Common Booster Segment, derivatives of which would power the rocket's first and second stages.
"That was restricted to developing primary propulsion products that would support the RD-180 replacement," he said of the existing Air Force funding award. "The LSA (Launch Services Agreement) money, we need to use it for the launch system or the launch system infrastructure. It's geared toward putting together an overall launch system. It's not restricted to the use of any particular stage. We will use the cost-share money to fund the entire system."
The NGL would come in two basic versions: an intermediate and a heavy configuration.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/144372.jpg)The NGL's intermediate and heavy (left and right) configurations. Credit: Orbital ATK

The intermediate version would have a two-segment solid-fueled core stage, called a Castor 600, that would generate 2.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The heavy version would have a four-segment core rocket motor, the Castor 1200, putting out 3.1 million pounds of thrust.
Both configurations would have a single-segment Castor 300 second stage motor, built using the same tooling as the multi-segment first stage motors, and a hydrogen-fueled cryogenic upper stage engine. The Castor motors would be produced and tested at Orbital ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah.
"As we start through this process, we built these segmented cases so we can do loads testing, burst testing, and use them to develop our manufacturing processes for winding insulation and ultimately pouring the overall motors," Laidley said. "All of this is leading up to static fire testing of the first two stages of the intermediate class, what we're calling the Castor 600, which is a two-segment first stage, and the Castor 300, a single-segment second stage. Those motors will static fire in 2019."
The intermediate and heavy configurations could get an additional boost from up to six strap-on boosters, the same 63-inch diameter augmentation motors Orbital ATK is currently qualifying for use on ULA's Atlas 5 and Vulcan rockets. The number of strap-on boosters on each NGL flight could be tailored based on mission requirements, allowing for odd numbers boosters to fly on the rocket, similar to the Atlas 5's design, Laidley said.
The solid rocket boosters, known as GEM 63XLs, would remain attached to the NGL's first stage in the intermediate version, then jettison together with the core motor. The boosters would separate individually on the heavy version, Laidley said.
Laidley said Orbital ATK has studied proposals for third stage engines from Blue Origin, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Europe's Ariane Group. A final decision on the NGL's upper stage engine is expected soon.
Orbital ATK plans to build the launcher's 5-meter (16-foot) diameter payload shroud — roughly the same diameter as fairings flown on Atlas 5, Falcon 9 and Ariane 5 rockets — at the company's structures division in Iuka, Mississippi.
According to an Orbital ATK fact sheet, the intermediate version of NGL will lift between 10,800 pounds (4,900 kilograms) and around 22,300 pounds (10,100 kilograms) into a geostationary transfer orbit, an elliptical loop around Earth commonly by communications satellites transiting to geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.
That performance range is comparable to the lift capacity of ULA's Atlas 5 rocket family.
The heavy NGL configuration can loft between roughly 11,600 pounds (5,250 kilograms) and 17,200 pounds (7,800 kilograms) of payload directly into geostationary orbit — eliminating the need for a spacecraft to use its own fuel for major orbital maneuvers.
The NGL's exact performance capability depends on the number of solid-fueled boosters added to the rocket.
"Right now, we're planning on about three to four missions per year to close our business case," Laidley said. "A couple of those could come from the Air Force and a couple of those could come from either our internal needs or the commercial community. We can close our business case with a fairly low launch rate, and that's primarily due to the diversity of our business base, and the fact that right now we've got a number of other large programs in our launch vehicle division, along with the propulsion systems division and aerospace structures."
Orbital ATK does not plan to reuse any parts of the NGL system, despite the company's history with refurbishing shuttle solid rocket boosters.
"We're not planning any reusability in this vehicle," Laidley said. "We're really focusing on commonality with our other product lines and getting as efficient as we can that way."
Some of the savings, Laidley said, were realized by the merger of Orbital Sciences and ATK in early 2015. The corporate marriage brought together ATK's experience with solid rocket propulsion and composite structures and Orbital's knowledge of launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing and operations.
"Without the merger, it would have been very difficult to pull this together, with hardware coming from different companies," Laidley said. "It would have been very difficult for us to be competitive. We think NGL is the first major offering that allows us to leverage all the capabilities of the company that our corporate leaders envisioned."
Orbital ATK's expected acquisition by Northrop Grumman should not affect the new rocket's development, according to Laidley.
"We firmly believe the new ownership is committed," he said. "They've expressed their interest in this as well. I think this is a program area that they would use as a growth area."
Assuming Orbital ATK receives the next two tranches of Air Force funding, the intermediate version of the NGL system could make its maiden flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the first quarter of 2021, Laidley said. After as few as two successful test missions, the rocket could be certified by the Air Force for national security payloads by the end of 2021.
The heavy version would follow with two test flights in 2024.
"The proposal we submitted gives the government a firm cost and cost-share proposal all the way through the intermediate and heavy certification flight," Laidley said.
Orbital ATK has secured an agreement with NASA to use Mobile Launch Platform No. 3, originally built for the Saturn 5 moon rocket and modified for the space shuttle, for NGL missions. Technicians would stack the rocket inside High Bay 2 in the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building, then roll out to launch pad 39B a few days before liftoff.
Final details of the agreement to provide for Orbital ATK's co-use of pad 39B with NASA's Space Launch System are being worked out now, Laidley said.
Construction to ready the launch platform and VAB high bay for Orbital ATK's rocket could begin next year, contingent on the Next Generation Launch system's green light fr om the Air Force this summer.
For a West Coast launch site to support polar orbit missions, Orbital ATK is considering at least two options: Upgrading the Delta 2 launch pad at Space Launch Complex 2-West once that rocket is retired later this year, or moving into Space Launch Complex-6 when the Delta 4-Heavy flies its last mission in the 2020s.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьИскандер пишет:
3-4 пуска в год. Ориентация на правительственные/военные нагрузки. Уникальные орбиты. Будет делить СК с SLS. Фактически страхует и Вулкан, и F-9. Широкая адаптируемость под массы ПН и орбиты.
Интересный носитель. И главное что он будет.

ЦитироватьЧебурашка пишет:
А не слижком ли много ракет на небольшой полянке - Флакон, Голубые Оригиналы, Вулкан и это...

ЦитироватьЧебурашка пишет:
Маск, когда вишнёвую теслу пускал, наглядно продемонстрировал способности выводить ПН прямо на ГСО. Сутпень способна прожить 3 часа

ЦитироватьСергей пишет:

ЦитироватьИскандер пишет:
3-4 пуска в год. Ориентация на правительственные/военные нагрузки. Уникальные орбиты. Будет делить СК с SLS. Фактически страхует и Вулкан, и F-9. Широкая адаптируемость под массы ПН и орбиты.
Интересный носитель. И главное что он будет.

Конечно будет, и быстро, и надежно, и конечно "правительственные/военные нагрузки." На фоне дорогих спутников при ограниченном количестве пусков в год стоимость РН вполне приемлемая . Нам это не "угрожает", хотя для МО это то, ,, что доктор прописал.

ЦитироватьOMEGA: Orbital ATK's New Large-Class Rocket for U.S. Air Force

Orbital ATK further revealed details of its all-American OmegA™ launch vehicle supporting the Evolved, Expandable Launch Vehicle (EEVLV) program for the U.S. Air Force this week at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

As one of the company's largest strategic investments, OmegA will provide intermediate- to heavy-class launch services for the Department of Defense, civil government and commercial customers beginning in three years.

(https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/OmegA/Images/Omega562Stars_lo.jpg)

OmegA represents the book end of the company's rocket lineup, from small to large class. The O and A at the beginning and end of OmegA reflect the Orbital ATK name and company innovation that is found in the vehicle. Similar to the company's other rockets, which are named after constellations or stars, the name also represents the largest star cluster in the Milky Way. Called Omega Centauri, this cluster contains approximately 10 million stars and a total mass equivalent to 4 million solar masses. It is one of the few star clusters visible to the naked eye.

With the addition of OmegA, Orbital ATK is the only company to have operational rockets spanning from interceptors and targets to small-class (Pegasus® and Minotaur), medium-class (Antares™) to now large-class.

"We are an experienced and trusted supplier supporting some of the nation's most critical space launch requirements," said Mike Pinkston, Deputy General Manager of Orbital ATK's Launch Vehicles Division. "This extensive experience is directly relevant to OmegA, as we draw from these active product lines, workforce, facilities and launch capabilities."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/209408.jpg)

OmegA is a three-stage rocket augmented by adding up to six strap-on boosters. The rocket takes advantage of flight-proven Orbital ATK avionics, software and other components that are common across all its products. The first and second stages are the company's large-class solid propellant motors with composite cases. These can be configured in various combinations to build first and second stage boosters for intermediate- and heavy-class configurations. OmegA's cryogenic third stage is powered by Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10C engine. The vehicle also incorporates Orbital ATK large composites interstages and five-meter fairing.

Because Orbital ATK is not just a launch provider, there are synergies with other parts of the company as well. For example, OmegA is capable of launching Orbital ATK-manufactured satellites.

(https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/OmegA/Images/OmegaFasteners_lo.jpg)

Orbital ATK has met all OmegA program milestones to date. The company has built four of the large composite motor cases, two of which are insulated and machined and ready for the first cast next week. The program remains solidly on track to complete static tests of our first and second stages by mid-2019. Orbital ATK is building tooling for the upper stage and will start producing propellant tanks early next year. Major design reviews for the launch vehicle and launch site at Kennedy Space Center will occur this summer.

Orbital ATK is working on OmegA in Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah, and additional work is being performed by suppliers across the country. Initial flights of OmegA's intermediate configuration will begin in early 2021, which will certify the vehicle for EELV missions later that year. The initial heavy configuration certification flights begin in 2024.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/209409.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 9 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/986029298195759105)

The OmegA name represents the book-end of our rocket lineup from small-class Pegasus & Minotaur to medium-class Antares and now large-class OmegA
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/162419.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186190.jpg)Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) 9 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/986031910504796161)

This heavy-class rocket will have a payload capacity of up to 10,100 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and up to 7,800 kg to Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO) #OmegaRocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hash)

ЦитироватьOmegA: Orbital ATK's New Large-Class Rocket

Orbital ATK (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLr1shBflPt0esLOrNFqAPA)

Опубликовано: 16 апр. 2018 г.

Orbital ATK has announced the name of the company's new large-class rocket: OmegA. This all-American rocket, designed for the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, will have a capacity of up to 10,100 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and up to 7,800 kg to Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO). Aerojet Rockeydyne's RL10C engine will be the vehicle's upper stage propulsion system. Learn more: bit.ly/OmegaRocket

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185942.jpg)Eileen Drake‏ @DrakeEileen (https://twitter.com/DrakeEileen) 9 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/DrakeEileen/status/986038617867878400)

Looking forward to @AerojetRdyne (https://twitter.com/AerojetRdyne)'s #RL10 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/RL10?src=hash) taking on a vital role on @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK)'s new #OmegaRocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hash) vehicle #34SS (https://twitter.com/hashtag/34SS?src=hash) #SpaceSymposium (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceSymposium?src=hash)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/162417.jpg)

Цитировать

Orbital ATK Reinforces Commitment to U.S. Air Force EELV Program with OmegA Rocket

All-American Rocket Configuration Finalized with Selection of Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C Upper Stage Propulsion

OMEGATM Scheduled for Ground Tests Next Year, First Launch in 2021

Dulles, Virginia 16 April 2018 – During the 34th annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today provided a detailed update on the important progress being made on its Next Generation Launch System. The company reaffirmed its commitment to the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program for national security space missions with the announcement of the name of the rocket, OmegA, and the selection of its upper stage propulsion system. As one of the company's largest strategic investments, OmegA will provide intermediate- to heavy-class launch services for Department of Defense, civil government and commercial customers beginning in three years.

Спойлер

"Orbital ATK is very excited to partner with the U.S. Air Force to develop OmegA, our new EELV-class launch vehicle," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "Our OmegA rocket provides the best combination of performance, affordability and reliability to support the full range of our customers' mission requirements. Based on our experience of producing more than 430 launch vehicles over the last 35 years, we have the rigorous processes, operational discipline and oversight transparency that are expected by our U.S. government customers. And with the industrial resources and financial capabilities of a $5 billion revenue company, Orbital ATK is fully committed to meeting the technical and schedule requirements of this important program."

Over the last three years, Orbital ATK and the U.S. Air Force have together invested more than $250 million in developing the OmegA rocket, and the company has committed to an even larger additional investment to complete its development and certification. Orbital ATK is already building major propulsion and structural elements with a program workforce of about 500 employees. OmegA is on schedule to complete propulsion system ground tests in 2019 and to conduct its first launch in 2021.

The rocket configuration consists of Orbital ATK-built first and second solid rocket stages, strap-on solid boosters and a cryogenic liquid upper stage. After careful consideration, Orbital ATK recently sel ected Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10C to be OmegA's upper stage propulsion engine.

"The RL10 has provided reliable upper stage propulsion for more than five decades and we look forward to continuing that legacy with Orbital ATK and its OmegA rocket," said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. "By selecting the RL10, Orbital ATK is able to leverage investments made by the U.S. Air Force and others to build resilient space launch capabilities for our nation."

"The RL10 has an extensive flight history and provides a low-risk, affordable engine with outstanding performance," said Mike Pinkston, Deputy General Manager of Orbital ATK's Launch Vehicles Division. "OmegA is a robust all-American launch system with its entire design based on flight-proven technologies and common components fr om Orbital ATK's diversified lineup of rockets and propulsion systems."

Orbital ATK has a long history of launching critical payloads for the Department of Defense, NASA and other customers with the company's Pegasus®, Minotaur and AntaresTM space launch vehicles as well as a wide array of strategic missile interceptors and targets in support of critical national security launch programs.

"We currently have 10 launch vehicle product lines that are in active production and operations for our government and commercial customers, leveraging the efforts of one of the industry's most experienced launch vehicle development and operations teams," said Pinkston. The company has built and delivered about 160 space and strategic launch vehicles and approximately 275 target vehicles in the past 35 years, with current annual production rates totaling about 20 vehicles per year.
 
Approximately 500 employees are currently working on OmegA, a number that is expected to grow to about 1,000 people over the next 18 months. The company's development team is working on the program in Arizona, Utah, Mississippi and Louisiana, with launch integration and operations planned at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The program will also support hundreds of jobs across the country in its supply chain.

The next phase of the OmegA program is expected to begin when the U.S. Air Force awards Launch Services Agreements in mid-2018, which will include the remaining development and verification of the vehicle and its launch sites. After initial flights of its intermediate configuration in 2021, OmegA will be certified for operational EELV missions starting in 2022 with initial heavy configuration flights beginning in 2024.

About Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 14,000 people across the U.S. and in several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.

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ЦитироватьOMEGA

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/209401.jpg)  

The OmegA™ rocket is one of Orbital ATK's largest strategic investments. A new, American intermediate-and large-class space launch vehicle, OmegA is capable of launching the full range of national security mission required by the U.S. Air Force, as well as science and commercial payloads for other customers.

OmegA's design leverages commonality and automation to provide speed, reliability, performance and affordability. Already, approximately 500 Orbital ATK employees are working on OmegA, and that number is expected to grow to approximately 1,000 over the next 24 months. Hundreds of other jobs are also being created in our extensive supply chain.

OmegA uses all-American propulsion and other flight-proven technologies, and will be ready to fly in just three years. Like other Evolvable Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs), OmegA will operate from both east and west coast launch facilities. OmegA will share common propulsion, structures and avionics systems with current and future programs. In ad dition, OmegA will leverage current in-production programs that already are staffed with a skilled and highly experienced workforce, and will use existing facilities, supplier relationships and available subsystems for the new launch system's development and production. Because OmegA shares so many common elements with other programs, the system is affordable for the Air Force while also providing savings of approximately $600 million to other government agencies over 10 years.

OmegA will be the largest and most capable in a long line of Orbital ATK rockets. On average, Orbital ATK builds 20 rockets and launches 14 each year, and has designed and built a new rocket every two years for the past decade. The U.S. currently relies on Orbital ATK launch vehicles and propulsion systems for its most critical national security and civil space programs, including strategic missiles, missile defense systems, target systems and manned and unmanned exploration programs. OmegA builds upon this heritage and proven track record for reliability and affordability to expand the company's existing capabilities while providing the Air Force and other customers with a proven low-risk, low-cost option for launching their payloads into space.

More Information

OmegA Fact Sheet (https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-vehicles/OmegA/docs/Omega_Factsheet.pdf)

OmegA Images  (https://www.orbitalatk.com/multimedia-library/media/flight/default.aspx)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186343.jpg)Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF) 9 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/986038701468913665)

Interested in learning all the specifics about @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK)'s new #Omega (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Omega?src=hash) rocket? Here's our piece from @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) detailing the rocket's development from a couple weeks ago!

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/03/orbital-atk-next-phase-ngl-rocket-development/ ... (https://t.co/73jPE07nM8)

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK selects Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10C for newly christened OmegA rocket
by Sandra Erwin (http://spacenews.com/author/sandra-erwin/) and Brian Berger (http://spacenews.com/author/brian-berger/) — April 16, 2018

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155791.jpg)
An artist's concept of Orbital ATK's OmegA rocket in flight.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Orbital ATK on Monday revealed new details about the rocket it has been developing over the last three years in an effort to take U.S. Air Force launch contracts away from United Launch Alliance and SpaceX.

With the Air Force expected to sel ect up to three companies this summer to build and test rockets capable of launching intermediate to heavy-class national security payloads, Orbital ATK executives announced at the 34th Space Symposium here that they have picked Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10C engine to power the upper stage of a next-generation launch vehicle they are now calling OmegA.

Спойлер

OmegA's solid-fuel lower stages, as previously disclosed, are based on space shuttle solid rocket motor segments developed by Orbital ATK, and solid strap-on boosters used on ULA's rockets.

OmegA was developed under a three-year, $250 million cost-sharing partnership with the Air Force. At a news conference, Orbital ATK spokesman Barron Beneski said OmegA is the "number one priority for growth initiatives in the company, and is projected to be the largest discretionary spending item in the company over the next couple of years."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155790.jpg)
Orbital ATK intends to use variants of the OmegA rocket to launch intermediate to heavy-class payloads for U.S. national security customers. Credit: Orbital ATK

The new rocket will compete against SpaceX, ULA and Blue Origin for further development contracts the Air Force plans to award under its Launch Services Agreement (LSA) program this summer. Before naming the rocket OmegA, the company had been using the name "next generation launch system" as a placeholder, said Scott Lehr, president of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group.

OmegA is on a path to complete propulsion system ground tests in 2019 and conduct its first launch in 2021.

Orbital ATK chose the existing RL10C for the upper stage rather than gamble on a new development. "It has an extensive flight history and provides a low-risk affordable engine," said Mike Pinkston, deputy general manager of Orbital ATK's launch vehicles division.

The RL10C is currently used by ULA to power the Centaur upper stage used on its Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155788.png)
OmegA features solid rocket motors for the lower stages and an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C for the upper stage. Credit: Orbital ATK

As recently as a year ago, Orbital ATK planned to use a vacuum-optimized of Blue Origin's BE-3 engine that the Jeff Bezos-owned company is currently flying on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle.

Both the BE-3U and a variant of Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10 are in the running for Vulcan, the next-gen rocket ULA is using to go after the same pot of Air Force LSA money as Blue Origin, Orbital ATK and SpaceX. Orbital ATK provides solid rocket motors for Vulcan. Lehr said the manufacturing of solid rocket motors for Vulcan will be "firewalled" fr om the OmegA program.

The next phase of the OmegA program will begin after the Air Force makes the next round of LSA awards in July. That would allow for further development and verification of the vehicle and its launch sites.

Orbital ATK officials said that after initial flights of its intermediate configuration in 2021, OmegA will be Air Force certified for operational missions starting in 2022, with initial heavy configuration flights beginning in 2024.

About 500 employees currently are working on OmegA, the company said, and the number is expected to grow to 1,000 over the next 18 months.

Pinkston said Orbital ATK expects OmegA to be cost-competitive in both the EELV and commercial markets, but said he could not provide any price estimates yet. The company is in search of customers. "We have some 'letters of intent' in hand for payloads," he said. With Orbital ATK being a major satellite manufacturer, the plan is to offer "our own sallites in our own rockets for an attractive price."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155792.jpg)
After machining an Omega first-stage case, Orbital ATK technicians install fasteners into the forward attach ring. Credit: Orbital ATK

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ЦитироватьOrbital ATK names new launcher, selects upper stage engine
April 20, 2018 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/) Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/144374.jpg)
Artist's illustration of Orbital ATK's proposed OmegA rocket. Credit: Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK's proposed rocket to answer the U.S. Air Force's desire for two families of satellite launchers with U.S.-made propulsion systems will be named OmegA, and the company has sel ected the cryogenic Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine to power the vehicle's upper stage, officials announced this week.

The OmegA rocket could launch for the first time in 2021, but Orbital ATK is competing against several aerospace companies for a pot of Air Force funding the military is expected to award this summer. Blue Origin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are expected to compete for the government support, and then Air Force says it will make up to three funding awards.

Спойлер

Orbital ATK previously disclosed that two solid-fueled rocket motors will power the first and second stages of the OmegA launcher. Company officials considered hydrogen-fueled engine proposals from Blue Origin and Ariane Group before settling on Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10 engine for OmegA's upper stage.

Artist's illustrations of the OmegA rocket show two RL10 engines on the OmegA's third stage. The new engine derivative sel ected to fly on the OmegA rocket is known as the RL10C-5-1, a modified version of the RL10C-1 engine currently flying on United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket.

Aerojet Rocketdyne said the new version of the RL10 engine will feature a 3D-printed injector assembly. Variants of the RL10 engine have flown in space nearly 500 times since the 1960s.

"The RL10 has provided reliable upper stage propulsion for more than five decades and we look forward to continuing that legacy with Orbital ATK and its OmegA rocket," said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne's CEO and president, in a statement. "By selecting the RL10, Orbital ATK is able to leverage investments made by the U.S. Air Force and others to build resilient space launch capabilities for our nation."

Orbital ATK officials said the OmegA rocket's development has advanced over the past three years with a more than $250 million joint investment with the Air Force. The company ranks the launcher project — the most powerful rocket yet developed by the commercial space firm — as one of its top strategic programs, and Orbital ATK said in a press release it has committed an "even larger" investment to complete OmegA development and certification.

"Orbital ATK is very excited to partner with the U.S. Air Force to develop OmegA, our new EELV-class launch vehicle," said Scott Lehr, president of Orbital ATK's flight systems group, in a statement. "Our OmegA rocket provides the best combination of performance, affordability and reliability to support the full range of our customers' mission requirements."

"The RL10 has an extensive flight history and provides a low-risk, affordable engine with outstanding performance," said Mike Pinkston, deputy general manager of Orbital ATK's launch vehicles division. "OmegA is a robust all-American launch system with its entire design based on flight-proven technologies and common components from Orbital ATK's diversified lineup of rockets and propulsion systems."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/144375.jpg)
A cutaway view of the OmegA rocket. Credit: Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK said it named the rocket for the Omega Centauri star cluster, with the capitalized "O" and "A" representing the company's name. Orbital ATK's other launchers, like the Pegasus, Taurus and Antares, are named for constellations and stars.

The OmegA rocket, previously known as the Next Generation Launch system, will use segmented solid rocket motors based on the posters Orbital ATK built for the space shuttle. But engineers developed a new composite case to replace the metallic structures used for the shuttle, making the OmegA solid motors lighter and easier to manufacture, according to Mike Laidley, Orbital ATK's vice president for the OmegA program.

The OmegA rocket will come in two basic versions: an intermediate and a heavy configuration.

The intermediate version would have a two-segment solid-fueled core stage, called a Castor 600, that would generate 2.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The heavy version would have a four-segment core rocket motor, the Castor 1200, putting out 3.1 million pounds of thrust.

Both configurations would have a single-segment Castor 300 second stage motor, built using the same tooling as the multi-segment first stage motors at Orbital ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah.

Up to six strap-on solid rocket boosters could be added to the OmegA rocket to lift heavier payloads into space.

The intermediate version of the OmegA rocket could launch for the first time in 2021 from pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heavy configuration is expected to fly in 2024.

Orbital ATK is assessing a location for a West Coast launch site for polar orbit missions, with Space Launch Complex-2 and Space Launch Complex-6 — the current homes of ULA's Delta 2 and Delta 4 rockets — emerging as the primary options, Laidley said.

The OmegA rocket will be fully expendable, and the company aims to reduce costs through simpler manufacturing processes and shared costs with other Orbital ATK programs. Officials have not disclosed how much each OmegA flight will cost.

Orbital ATK plans to build the launcher's 5-meter (16-foot) diameter payload shroud — roughly the same diameter as fairings flown on Atlas 5, Falcon 9 and Ariane 5 rockets — at the company's structures division in Iuka, Mississippi.

According to an Orbital ATK fact sheet, the intermediate version of OmegA will lift between 10,800 pounds (4,900 kilograms) and around 22,300 pounds (10,100 kilograms) into a geostationary transfer orbit, an elliptical loop around Earth commonly by communications satellites transiting to geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.

That performance range is comparable to the lift capacity of ULA's Atlas 5 rocket family.

The heavy OmegA configuration can loft between roughly 11,600 pounds (5,250 kilograms) and 17,200 pounds (7,800 kilograms) of payload directly into geostationary orbit — eliminating the need for a spacecraft to use its own fuel for major orbital maneuvers.

The OmegA's exact performance capability depends on the number of solid-fueled boosters added to the rocket.

"Right now, we're planning on about three to four missions per year to close our business case," Laidley said in a recent interview with Spaceflight Now. "A couple of those could come fr om the Air Force and a couple of those could come fr om either our internal needs or the commercial community.

A previous round of Air Force funding awarded to Orbital ATK — along with ULA, SpaceX and Aerojet Rocketdyne — was limited to development of the Common Booster Segment, the name for each segment the OmegA's core solid-fueled Castor 1200, 600 and 300 rocket motors. Early design work on the rest of the rocket was funded by Orbital ATK's internal coffers.

If Orbital ATK wins a further tranche of Air Force funding this summer, the money will complete the development of the launcher's solid-fueled core stage and prepare for a ground test-firing of the motor next year. Orbital ATK said engineers have built four composite cases for ground testing of the OmegA's core motor, and technicians will begin pouring an inert propellant mixture into one of the test casings for the first time next week.

The Air Force plans to down-select to two launch providers in late 2019, giving the military two contractors capable of delivering all the U.S. government's defense-related payloads to orbit.

ULA and SpaceX currently provide launch services for the government's most critical national security payloads, but ULA's Atlas 5 rocket uses a Russian-made main engine, and ULA admits its Delta 4 rocket is too expensive to be competitive. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is less expensive and uses U.S.-made engines, but the company's bigger Falcon Heavy rocket is not yet certified by the Air Force for national security missions. The Falcon Heavy could be certified as soon as next year after further successful flights, which will make it eligible to compete for Air Force EELV-class contracts following a flawless maiden test launch Feb. 6.

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ЦитироватьФеликс пишет:
какаято реинкарнация старой Дельты...

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Это реинкарнация Арес-1

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust) May 22 (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/998992051801939968)

Michael Laidley, Orbital ATK: we have about 500 people working on our OmegA rocket right now; expect that to ramp up to about 1,000. Ground testing of first stage to begin next year. #SpaceTechExpo (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceTechExpo?src=hash)

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust) May 22 (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/998993791142039552)

Laidley: on schedule for first flight of intermediate version of OmegA in 2021, with USAF certification in 2022. Heavy version first launch 2024. #SpaceTechExpo (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceTechExpo?src=hash)

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust) May 22 (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/999005747357929473)

Laidley: if we don't win Launch Services Award from USAF for OmegA, we would not proceed with the vehicle as currently defined. It would be some other design that doesn't address all EELV requirements. #SpaceTechExpo (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceTechExpo?src=hash)

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK) ретвитнул(а)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186110.jpg)Defense Daily‏ @DefenseDaily (https://twitter.com/DefenseDaily) 21 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/DefenseDaily/status/1002219424001220608)

OmegA, @OrbitalATK (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK)'s new heavy-class rocket, will have a payload capacity of up to 10,100 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and up to 7,800 kg to Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO)

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Это реинкарнация Арес-1

- а это, тово, эта реинкарнация не вытрясет душу нафиг из ПН?

ЦитироватьИскандер пишет:

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
Это реинкарнация Арес-1

- а это, тово, эта реинкарнация не вытрясет душу нафиг из ПН?

Кстати да, у Арес-1 были большие проблемы с вибрацией.
И не понятно как они собираются решать эту проблему.

ЦитироватьДмитрий В. пишет:
У Арес-1 проблема проявлялась в том, что на некоторых участках полета из-за вибраций экипаж мог неверно считывать с экранов мониторов текст размером меньше 10 кегля, что считалось потенциально опасным. Вот и вся проблема. При выведении автоматических КА этой проблемы не существует.

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:
- и сколько ж будет стоить запуск 7,800 kg to Geostationary Equatorial Orbit на OmegA?

ЦитироватьДмитрий В. пишет:

У Арес-1 проблема проявлялась в том, что на некоторых участках полета из-за вибраций экипаж мог неверно считывать с экранов мониторов текст размером меньше 10 кегля, что считалось потенциально опасным. Вот и вся проблема. При выведении автоматических КА этой проблемы не существует.

ЦитироватьFirst Stage Design Problems Arise For NASA's Ares 1 Rocket
By Keith CowingPosted Friday, November 16, 2007
NASA has run into some problems with the design of its new Ares 1 launch vehicle - problems that could affect its ability (as designed) to safely launch its human cargo into space.

The Ares 1 and the Orion capsule (also under development) are designed to replace the crew carrying function of the current Space Shuttle fleet which is due to be retired in 2010. The first flight of humans aboard an Ares 1 is planned for March 2015.

According to NASA sources, the Ares 1 first stage, as currently designed, would produce a frequency of 25 Hz at liftoff. The concern is that this oscillation could shake the Ares 1 upper stage and Orion capsule designed to carry human passengers, causing considerable damage and that it could also adversely affect the Guidance, Navigation, and Control avionics in the rocket's Instrumentation Unit.

When asked to comment on this development, NASA's Exploration System Mission Directorate (ESMD) Public Affairs Officer replied:

"The Ares Project Office identified Ares I thrust oscillation as a potential integrated stack challenge as a part of its system definition review which concluded in October. Thrust oscillation or resonant burning is a characteristic of all solid rocket motors. It is caused by vortex shedding inside the solid rocket motor, similar to the wake that follows a fast-moving boat. When the vortex shedding coincides with the acoustic modes of the motor combustion chamber, pressure oscillations generate longitudinal forces that may affect the loads experienced by the Ares I during the last phase of first-stage flight. NASA is assessing the analyses in more detail, looking for any potential impacts to the integrated stack and ways to mitigate those impacts. Results are due in spring 2008. It is a normal part of the development process to identify, mitigate and track challenges such as this."

NASA sources also report that the 6 month slip in the Ares 1 PDR (Preliminary Design Review) recently announced could impact the first launch of humans aboard an Ares 1 by as much as 14-16 months beyond the publicly announced first flight date of March 2015.

NASA ESMD's response: "NASA decided to move the Ares I first stage preliminary design review to summer 2008 to allow better alignment with current Ares Project and Constellation Program preliminary design review planning. Conducting the first stage preliminary design review in summer 2008 will not cause NASA to delay the target date for the first flight with humans."

In addition, NASA sources report that the option of having a non-recoverable first stage for Ares 1 is also still under active consideration within the Ares design team - this despite stern statements to the contrary by former ESMD head Scott Horowitz last year.

NASA's response: "NASA is not considering a non-recoverable first stage for Ares I. A recoverable system is the preferred approach, and the agency confirmed this baseline through a trade study as part of the recent systems definition review."

Цитировать
 (https://gizmodo.com/5069862/nasas-ares-1-rocket-in-trouble-again-could-crash-into-launch-tower)
MORE ARES I DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS: IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/191254.jpg) Article written: 28 Oct , 2008
Updated: 24 Dec , 2015by Ian O'Neill (https://www.universetoday.com/author/ian/)



There's been a lot of bad news surrounding the development of the Constellation Program of late. We've had news of general design flaws, rebelling NASA engineers, failed parachute tests, budget overruns, vibrational issues and job losses. Now we have a new one to add to the mix, the Ares I launch vehicle could bump into the launch tower during blast-off. According to a Florida report, only a tiny gust of wind is required to cause the rocket to hit the tower or scorch it, causing catastrophic failure and/or costly damage to the pad.
You'd be forgiven for thinking Constellation is a failed project, that is obviously going to overrun, obviously going to cost too much and is obviously a waste of time. But forget the media naysayers for a moment. Despite the challenges faced by NASA engineers, a bumpy road on the way to launching the most advanced rocket system ever devised is well worth the ride...

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220117.jpg) (https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/orion_banner.jpg)
The Orion parachute test drop didn't go so well... (NASA)

Back in August (https://www.universetoday.com/16644/constellation-project-parachute-tests-ares-i-success-orion-failure/), I reported on the testing of the Ares and Orion parachute systems. Very little news was available about the Ares parachute successes (https://www.universetoday.com/12095/nasa-tests-new-parachutes-for-ares-spacecraft/), so the focus was placed on the spectacular failure of the Orion test vehicle (https://www.universetoday.com/17118/nasa-releases-images-and-video-of-orion-failed-parachute-test/), which fell to the ground like a stone (captured in full video glory). This wasn't a critical failure of the technology, it was more of an experimental anomaly. After all, isn't that what test flights are all about?

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220116.jpg) (https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/aresv_liftoff_hires_516.jpg)
Ares V: Heavy lift capability comes with a price (NASA)

Then there was much emphasis placed on the predicted vibrational problems facing Ares I during launch. Fortunately, as Nancy reported on August 19th (https://www.universetoday.com/17040/nasa-to-install-shock-absorbers-to-mitigate-thrust-oscillation/), NASA engineers had a solution. Just when the NASA engineers thought they were winning, a few days later a report comes out saying the old Apollo era crawlerway would not be able to support (https://www.universetoday.com/17194/ares-v-rocket-could-crush-kennedys-crawlerway-will-cost-billions-to-upgrade/) the weight of a fully laden Ares rocket (cue more budget over-stretching).



More bad news has come fr om other areas too. During the transition from the Space Shuttle to Constellation, it was estimated that 8,000 jobs would probably be lost (https://www.universetoday.com/13453/jobs-eliminated-as-shuttle-program-transitions-to-constellation/). Even after this projected number was reduced to 3,000-4,000 job losses (https://www.universetoday.com/15249/us-senator-nasa-job-losses-could-generate-jobs-for-russian-space-program/), US Senator Bill Nelson said that NASA job losses and an increased dependence on Russian space vehicles will result in "generating jobs in Russia." However, this argument may not hold water for much longer as the Russian Soyuz manufacturer has run out of money (https://www.universetoday.com/20103/russian-spacecraft-producer-no-more-money-for-soyuz/).

Now prepare yourself for some more bad news. The Orlando Sentinel has published an article entitled "Is NASA's Ares doomed?" Oh dear.

This headline comes in response to computer models that show the Ares I rocket could get blown into the launch tower during lift-off. Ares I could experience "liftoff drift", a phenomenon that occurs when the rocket's solid-fuel motor ignites, making the 309 ft (100 m) Ares I "jump" sideways. If this should occur during a breeze of a little over 12 mph (19 kmh), Ares I could fall into its launch tower, or cause severe and expensive damage to the tower under the extreme heat of its boosters.
"We were told by a person directly involved [in looking at the problem] that as they incorporate more variables into the liftoff-drift-curve model, the worse the curve becomes," said an anonymous NASA contractor. Contractors are not authorized to talk about Ares development, but the contractor continued, "I get the impression that things are quickly going from bad to worse to unrecoverable."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220114.jpg) (https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/constellation-2.jpg)
The future of space travel - Artist impression of Ares V on the launchpad (NASA)

But are these problems insurmountable? Surely NASA engineers will find a solution to this difficulty (much in the same way as they found an answer to the vibrational problems)?

"There are always issues that crop up when you are developing a new rocket and many opinions about how to deal with them," said Jeff Hanley, Constellation Program manager. "We have a lot of data and understanding of what it's going to take to build this."
The Orlando Sentinel also posted information about continuing rifts in NASA pointing out that a growing number of engineers are quitting the Constellation program through fears of unrealistic goals and safety concerns, calling the whole Constellation concept into question.
"If they push hard enough, yes, it will fly," said one disgruntled NASA engineer working on Ares. "But there are going to be so many compromises to be able to launch it, and it will be so expensive and so behind schedule, that it may be better if didn't fly at all."


In my view, any massive project like Constellation will attract its critics. Ares and Orion are new technologies wh ere NASA engineers will have to make some huge strides to make it work. As already mentioned, the Ares rocket system is going to fly, but it might overrun in spending and schedule. However, all these challenges will be worth it when we see the first Ares I launch from Cape Canaveral in six or seven years time.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220115.jpg) (https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ess_moon_cernan.jpg)
Astronaut Eugene Cernan from Apollo 17, the last mission to the Moon (NASA)

Never before have we had the opportunity to build a space technology not only used for transportation to the space station, it will be used to facilitate the next lunar mission, and eventually a trip to Mars. These projects come at a huge cost for the entire nation, but like the run-up to the Apollo missions in the 1960's, the US needs to build an enthusiasm for the future of space flight. We are on the cusp of a huge advance for mankind, there's no budget or timescale for that kind of achievement.

It may not be politically or economically realistic, but more money should be ploughed into NASA and Constellation. This is a momentous challenge requiring a momentous effort from the nation. Let's just hope some of the spending promises of the presidential candidates last beyond November 4th...
Original source: Orlando Sentinel

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 23 июл. (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1021439808533684224)

Progress on our #OmegaRocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hash)! This C600 rocket motor case was recently delivered to our casting pits in Promontory, Utah where we will fill with inert propellant this week. This pathfinder motor will be one of three for the rocket. #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166882.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166881.jpg)

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman‏Verified account @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) Jul 23 (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1021439808533684224)

Progress on our #OmegaRocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hash)! This C600 rocket motor case was recently delivered to our casting pits in Promontory, Utah where we will fill with inert propellant this week. This pathfinder motor will be one of three for the rocket. #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman‏Verified account @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) Sep 6 (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1037739720615374848)

OmegA Update! We have successfully completed casting, or filling with propellant, the first live motor segment for our #OmegaRocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hash). The segment is specifically designed to support the needs of our new intermediate- to heavy-lift rocket. #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash) http://bit.ly/2QaO4ej  (https://t.co/xKEhVgCtnO)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 17 сент. (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1041757685073551362)

Thursday we will be firing one of our newly-developed Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM) 63. These motors will be used to support intermediate- and large-class launch vehicles including @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)'s #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash). Stay tuned for more info! #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170311.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1042397906303700992)

We are at our test site in Promontory, Utah, as we prepare for the static test of our next generation #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) booster tomorrow! We are partnering with @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) to qualify these motors for launches beginning next year.
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/169534.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 5 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1042772154746589184)

Can't attend this afternoon's test in person? Watch LIVE coverage via @SpaceflightIns (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightIns) beginning at 12:30 p.m. MDT/2:30 p.m. EDT! The static test fire is set for 1:00 MDT/3:00 EDT.
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 16 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1042836036764803072)

We're ready! Here's a view of the test site where our #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) motor will be firing off in just one hour. The motor has been in a test bay to keep it cooled to ~40 degrees F, which represents the lower parameters of what we are trying to qualify with this test.
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170090.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 5 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1042850888480681984)

3 - 2 - 1 Fire! Our #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) booster is firing for 110 seconds during its first ground test at our Promontory, Utah, test site. Stay tuned for photos!
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg)Tory Bruno‏Подлинная учетная запись @torybruno (https://twitter.com/torybruno) 14 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1042855039952465922)

Congratulations @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) .
#GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash). #BiggestSingleSegmentMotorEver (https://twitter.com/hashtag/BiggestSingleSegmentMotorEver?src=hash)

ЦитироватьSFI Live: GEM 63 Test Fire

SpaceFlight Insider - Official Page (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5MRkx4JyPAjBVl2g_23BwQ)

Трансляция началась 1 час назад

Join SpaceFlight Insider's Jason Rhian and a series of special guests during the 45 minutes leading up to the test fire of a GEM 63 rocket motor.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 2 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1042860810387816449)

First photos coming in of our #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) test! The motor fired for 110 seconds to test various objectives including insulation and ballistic performance. These motors will be used on @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) vehicles beginning next year. (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125513.png)
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170087.jpg)

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman to Test First GEM 63 Motor

Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

Опубликовано: 18 сент. 2018 г.

On Thursday, September 20, Northrop Grumman will conduct its first ground test of a 63-inch diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) in Promontory, Utah. Utilizing advanced technologies, the company developed this new rocket motor for use on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle.

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Successfully Completes First Qualification Test of New Rocket Motor for United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Graphite epoxy motors will help launch rocket beginning in 2019

September 20, 2018

Dulles, Va. – Sept. 20, 2018 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) conducted its first ground test of a 63-inch diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) today in Promontory, Utah. Utilizing advanced technologies, the company developed this new rocket motor for use on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/190728.jpg)
On Sept. 20, 2018, in Promontory, Utah, Northrop Grumman conducted the first ground test of its newly-developed GEM 63 rocket motor that will fly on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V launch vehicle.

Northrop Grumman began developing the motor just three years ago, reaching this static test milestone in rapid time for such a complex drop-in solution to an existing launch vehicle. The team developed the innovative design that tailors motor performance to meet ULA design objectives under a cooperative development program.

"Northrop Grumman has been supplying solid propulsion motors for a variety of launch vehicles since 1964," said Scott Lehr, president, flight systems, Northrop Grumman. "As ULA's largest legacy supplier of solid propulsion, we're pleased that our most recent product has reached this important milestone. The successful completion of this test enables full production to begin."

The GEM 63 motor will be used as a direct replacement of the previous strap-on boosters on ULA's Atlas V rocket beginning in July 2019 with the Space Test Program (STP)-3 mission that will use five boosters. Additional missions will follow, each of which may include up to five solid rocket motors.

Спойлер

The relationship with ULA began in 1964 when Thiokol (a Northrop Grumman predecessor company), in Huntsville, Alabama, provided three CASTOR® I strap-on rocket motors for the Delta D rocket. Several years later, CASTOR IIs flew on the Delta E rocket, and subsequently CASTOR IVs helped launch higher-performing Delta rockets. Also, CASTOR IVAs flew on the Atlas IIAS vehicle from 1993 to 2004, when 120 solid rocket boosters flew on 30 successful Atlas IIAS launches. Prior to the current Delta IV heavy launch vehicle, Northrop Grumman provided the large three-segmented Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) strap-on booster for the Titan IVB rocket. Thirty four SRMUs successfully flew on Titan IV from 1997 to 2005.

Northrop Grumman, then Hercules, began developing the GEM family of strap-on motors in the late 1980s with the GEM 40, 1,003 of which have subsequently flown on 132 successful Delta II launches. The company also developed the GEM 46, 54 of which flew on six successful Delta II-Heavy launches. Northrop Grumman later developed the GEM 60, and to date 62 of these motors have flown on 25 successful Delta IV launches. The company's family of GEM 63 rocket motors builds on this extensive flight history.

[свернуть]

Northrop Grumman is also developing a GEM 63XL motor using internal funding for use on ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket, which will fly with up to six GEM 63XLs per flight. The first GEM 63XL case, which is the longest non-segmented, monolithic case ever manufactured, has already been wound at a new facility in Clearfield, Utah.

Both versions of the GEM 63 family use common materials and processes to maintain a high-reliability, low-cost product. The next GEM 63 motor test, scheduled for November, will satisfy additional requirements for certification by the U.S. Air Force.

Спойлер

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com (http://news.northropgrumman.com/) and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews (http://www.twitter.com/ngcnews), for more information.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьGEM 63 Rocket Motor QM-1 Static Test

Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

Опубликовано: 20 сент. 2018 г.

Our GEM 63 rocket motor fired for approximately 105 seconds September 20 as we completed its first ground test at our Promontory, Utah, test site. The booster, developed for use on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, will be used as a direct replacement of the previous strap-on boosters beginning in July 2019.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 19 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1043206394080645120)

ARTICLE:
NGIS fires up GEM-63 motor destined for future ULA launches -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/09/ngis-gem-63-motor-future-ula-launches/ ... (https://t.co/nZiIne6ijZ)

- By Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski)) who attended the firing for NSF and reviewed the test in his article.

Vulcan render by Nathan Koga (@kogavfx (https://twitter.com/kogavfx)) for NSF.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170161.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170163.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170164.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170162.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 1 окт. (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1046806954906128384)

In honor of @MfgDay (https://twitter.com/MfgDay) this Fri, we're celebrating our employees across the country! Here, technicians move a C600 inert aft segment case for #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)'s 1st stage motor for the #OmegaRocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hash) into an autoclave to cure the rubber insulation on the inside of the case.
#MFGDay18 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/MFGDay18?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170598.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29262.jpg)Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust) 14:16 (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1050132892796502018) - 10 окт. 2018 г.

DOD contract announcement: ULA, Orbital (now Northrop Grumman) and Blue Origin win launch services agreements from the Air Force. Nothing for SpaceX.
https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1658771/ (https://t.co/rS5iZnQbuy)


14:18 (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1050133443017883650) - 10 окт. 2018 г.

ULA: $967M for development of Vulcan Centaur
Northrop: $791.6M for development of OmegA
Blue Origin: $500M for development of New Glenn

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Awarded $792 Million Launch Services Agreement from US Air Force

OmegA rocket on schedule to provide first launch in 2021
 October 10, 2018

DULLES, Va. – Oct 10, 2018 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) received a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) worth approximately $792 million of government investment from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to continue development of its OmegATM rocket for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The agreement runs through 2024 and includes certification flights of OmegA's intermediate variant in 2021 and its heavy variant in 2024.

OmegA will provide intermediate - to heavy-class launch services for the Department of Defense, civil government and commercial customers. With major propulsion and structural elements of OmegA already complete, Northrop Grumman is on schedule to complete propulsion system ground tests in 2019 and conduct its first launch in 2021.

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/190729.jpg)
Artist concept of Northrop Grumman's OmegA Rocket.

"We are pleased to receive this follow-on award from the Air Force," said Scott Lehr, president, flight systems, Northrop Grumman. "Our new OmegA rocket leverages technologies, capabilities and flight experience gained from decades of successful rocket launches, making it an affordable and reliable choice for national security missions."

Over the last three years, Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force have together invested more than $300 million in developing the OmegA rocket.

The rocket configuration consists of first and second solid rocket stages and strap-on solid boosters manufactured by Northrop Grumman, and a cryogenic liquid upper stage powered by Aerojet Rocketdyne's RL10C engine.

After initial flights of its intermediate configuration in 2021, OmegA will be certified for operational EELV missions starting in 2022 with initial heavy configuration flights beginning in 2024.

Northrop Grumman has a long history of launching critical payloads for the Department of Defense, NASA and other customers with the company's Pegasus®, Minotaur and AntaresTM launch vehicles as well as a wide array of strategic missile interceptors and targets in support of critical national security launch programs.

The company's development team is working on the program in Arizona, Utah, Mississippi and Louisiana, with launch integration and operations planned at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The program will also support hundreds of jobs across the country in its supply chain.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews (http://www.twitter.com/ngcnews), for more information.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/190730.jpg)

OmegA solid rocket motors being prepared for static test firing at Northrop Grumman's facility in Promontory, Utah.

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 8 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1050853823303090177)

FEATURE ARTICLE:
NGIS highlights advantages of their Air Force contract win with OmegA -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/10/ngis-highlights-air-force-contract-win-omega/ ... (https://t.co/5Z7z8xGc9N)

- By Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF)) speaking with NGIS (@northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman))

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171426.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg) (https://mobile.twitter.com/northropgrumman) Northrop Grumman @northropgrumman (https://mobile.twitter.com/northropgrumman) · 18 ч (https://mobile.twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1097964051269861376)

As we prep for the full-scale test fire of the #OmegaRocket (https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/OmegaRocket?src=hashtag_click)'s first stage in Promontory, Utah, two steel spacer rings, used to create a secure fit in the test stand, are coming together in the test facility to accommodate the powerful solid rocket motors.
#NorthropGrumman (https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hashtag_click)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/174930.jpg) (https://mobile.twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1097964051269861376/photo/1)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 14 мар. (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1106270022975004673)

Special delivery! The forward and aft segments of the #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash)'s first stage, measuring over 80 ft long, arrive at our test area in Promontory, Utah for assembly in preparation for the full-scale test fire later this spring. #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/160306.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 1 апр. (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1112688577194926082)

It's test week! This Thursday, April 4 we will perform the second static test fire of our #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) motor at our Promontory, Utah facility. These motors support @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)'s #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) rocket, giving the rocket an extra boost to deliver payloads to orbit. More: http://bit.ly/2Qc5hr6  (https://t.co/5sPkOsQfHj)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/160704.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/160705.jpg)

ЦитироватьSecond Ground Test of GEM 63 Rocket Motor

Northrop Grumman will conduct its second qualification test of its 63-inch diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) in Promontory, Utah. The company developed this new side-mounted rocket motor to add power to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle. The maximum thrust of the GEM 63 is 373,000 pounds or roughly the equivalent of nine F-35 fighter jets.

What: Ground test firing of GEM 63 rocket motor

When: Thursday, April 4, 1:00 p.m. MDT

Where: Northrop Grumman facility in Promontory, Utah

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 11 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1113871559347724290)

We're ready! Our #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) motor is poised in the test bay as we prepare for the test fire in just 30 minutes. #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/160820.jpg)

ЦитироватьNG Graphite Epoxy Motor 63 test (GEM 63 QM-2)

SciNews (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjU6ZwoTQtKWfz1urL7XcbA)

Опубликовано: 4 апр. 2019 г.

Northrop Grumman Corporation conducted the second qualification test (QM-2) of its 63-inch diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) in Promontory, Utah, on 4 April 2019. The test was designed to validate the ballistic performance of the motor, such as pressure and thrust. The GEM 63 motor will be used as a direct replacement of the previous strap-on boosters on ULA's Atlas V rocket beginning in July 2019 with the Space Test Program (STP)-3 mission that will use five boosters.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 11 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1113905610863595524)

First look at this afternoon's test fire of our #GEM63 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEM63?src=hash) motor designed to help power @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)'s #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash). Stay tuned for more images and video! #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

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ЦитироватьGEM 63 Static Test

Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

Опубликовано: 4 апр. 2019 г.

On April 4, Northrop Grumman successfully tested the GEM 63 motor for United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket. Today's test satisfies additional requirements for certification by the U.S. Air Force. The first launch using GEM 63 motors will take place in 2020.

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Successfully Completes Second Ground Test of New Rocket Motor for United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes Second Ground Test of New Rocket Motor for United Launch Alliance Atlas V

April 04, 2019

Dulles, Va. – April 4, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) conducted its second ground test of a 63-inch diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) today in Promontory, Utah. The company developed this new side-mounted rocket motor to add power to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/190739.jpg)
Northrop Grumman conducted the second ground test of its newly-developed GEM 63 rocket motor April 4, 2019, in Promontory, Utah. The GEM 63 will fly on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V launch vehicle starting next year.

The maximum thrust of the GEM 63 is 373,000 pounds or roughly the equivalent of five B-2 Spirit bombers. Up to five GEM 63 motors can support a single Atlas V launch.

"The Northrop Grumman team developed the GEM 63 motor in just three years, an impressive accomplishment for such a complex drop-in solution to an existing launch vehicle," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman.

The GEM 63 team developed the motor under a cooperative development program with ULA. Northrop Grumman has been supplying solid propulsion motors for a variety of launch vehicles since 1964 and is ULA's largest legacy supplier of solid propulsion. Northrop Grumman's expertise in solid rocket boosters combined with ULA's history of reliability results in a strong partnership that guarantees assured access to space for national security.

"This test is an important step in the development of these new boosters for the Atlas V launch vehicle and we thank Northrop Grumman for the continued partnership and outstanding teamwork," said Tory Bruno, ULA's president and CEO. "By flying key hardware first on our Atlas V rocket prior to flying it on our Vulcan Centaur rocket, it provides increased confidence for the first flight of our new rocket in 2021."

The first ground test, conducted in September 2018, qualified the motor for use as a strap-on booster for the Atlas V. Today's test satisfies additional requirements for certification by the U.S. Air Force. The first launch using GEM 63 motors will take place in 2020.

In addition to the GEM 63 motor, Northrop Grumman is also developing a GEM 63XL motor for ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket. Both versions of the GEM 63 family use common materials and processes to maintain a high-reliability, low-cost product. The first GEM 63XL case, which is the longest non-segmented, monolithic case ever manufactured, has already been wound at a new facility in Clearfield, Utah, and is currently in the structural qualification process.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

ЦитироватьFor OmegA, U.S. Air Force launch competition is a must-win
by Sandra Erwin (https://spacenews.com/author/sandra-erwin/) — April 8, 2019

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/191590.jpg)
Kent Rominger, vice president of Northrop Grumman strategic programs, left, studies an Antares composite fairing like those Northrop Grumman will manufacture for OmegA at the company's Iuka, Mississippi, facility. Credit: Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems

One of the big headlines of last year's Space Symposium was Orbital ATK's unveiling of a new rocket designed to challenge incumbents United Launch Alliance and SpaceX for future U.S. Air Force launch contracts.

Dubbed OmegA, the vehicle had been secretly in the works for three years under the generic name "Next Generation Launch System." The solid-propulsion OmegA was dreamed up by Orbital ATK before the company was acquired by Northrop Grumman. The reveal at the 34th Space Symposium happened just a few months before the acquisition of Orbital ATK was completed.

OmegA's chances of becoming a credible player in the National Security Space Launch program (NSSL) — formerly known as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program— got a boost in October when the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million Launch Service Agreement to share the cost of developing OmegA to carry military satellites.

Launch Service Agreement (LSA) funding — also awarded to competitors United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin — is to be spread over five years to help the companies pay for the infrastructure and vehicle modifications that would be required for Air Force certification to fly national security missions.

In the second phase of LSA, called the Launch Service Procurement, the Air Force plans to sel ect two providers in 2020 to split 60/40 up to 25 launches over five years starting in 2022.

The stakes could not be higher for OmegA as it prepares for two critical static-fire tests of its solid rocket motors this year with the goal to launch its first payload in 2021.

Former NASA astronaut Kent Rominger is Northrop Grumman's vice president for strategic programs. He spoke with SpaceNews about OmegA and its prospects.

What's happened since you unveiled OmegA year ago?

We have been defining the details. Four years ago, when we talked to the Air Force about our plans and our schedule, we told them we would do the first static test fire in the second quarter of 2019. It's on track for late May, and it is going to be exciting. In the solid rocket motor world, that is a qualifying test. OmegA has two solid boost stages and a cryogenic liquid upper stage powered by the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C engine. The May test is for the first stage. The static fire of the second stage is scheduled for August. We are pleased that we are holding our schedule.

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The two solid rocket motors comprising the first stage of OmegA recently arrived at Northrop Grumman's test stand in Promontory, Utah. Technicians are attaching instrumentation gauges and data recorders in preparation for the full-scale static test will qualify the OmegA first stage for spaceflight. Credit: Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems

How is Northrop Grumman preparing for these critical tests?

The completed OmegA first stage, which is more than 3.5 meters in diameter and nearly 24 meters long, is currently in the test stand where technicians are attaching instrumentation gauges and data recorders. During the static test, we will measure key characteristics such as thrust, pressure, strain, temperature, vibration and burn rate to validate expected performance. This stage will demonstrate more than two million pounds of thrust.

Do you still plan to develop a heavy configuration?

Yes. The first OmegA model will be an intermediate-class rocket that will fly payloads that currently use the Atlas 5 or the Falcon 9. Our intermediate variant is on track for first launch in 2021 and the heavy variant in 2024. The Air Force requires NSSL competitors to fly to nine reference orbits. Our intermediate rocket can reach seven of the nine. We need the heavy version to reach the other two.

Does being the only competitor with a solid rocket give you an advantage?

I believe so. The Air Force wants a diverse industrial base. Before the LSA award, Northrop Grumman and the Air Force already had invested more than $300 million in developing OmegA. They don't want a launch monopoly any more. They also want to ensure they have reliable service to get national security payloads to orbit. OmegA was engineered with simple solid boosters and a proven upper stage with the RL-10 engine. We designed it for national security payloads to give them a benign, gentle ride. We maintain that the ideal rocket equation is solid on boost and a very efficient liquid engine upper stage where you don't care so much about the thrust levels.

What else do you think might give you an advantage in the NSSL competition?

OmegA is different because of Northrop Grumman. If you look at the field of Launch Service Procurement competitors. we are the only company that isn't just a rocket company. Our whole focus is national security, and certainly national security space. We are a dedicated government partner. Because of our production base and existing infrastructure, we could go down to a very low rate and still be successful, and we would keep our workforce employed across multiple programs. That is our biggest strength in this competition — being a big aerospace company dedicated to national security, we will be there no matter what.

That said, what happens to OmegA if you don't win a Launch Service Procurement award?

If we don't win LSP, we're evaluating what we would do with OmegA. We're watching those commercial markets to help determine that. I don't have a definitive answer for you today. Depending on the outlook and other factors, we could easily decide to press on with OmegA. But there is a chance, too, depending on what we see, that we would decide at the time to not continue, or maybe put it on the shelf.

As a former NASA astronaut and veteran of the space shuttle, how do you feel about efforts by SpaceX and Boeing to bring back human spaceflight to the United States?

If we had had OmegA along sooner, we would have loved to have lifted either one of the capsules. The reliability of our system lends itself to human spaceflight. As a former NASA astronaut, I am pulling for the commercial crew folks to be very successful and get our astronauts into space fr om U.S. soil as soon as possible.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1125833932023500800)

#DYK (https://twitter.com/hashtag/DYK?src=hash) On May 30 we will be testing the first stage of our #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash) for @USAirForce (https://twitter.com/usairforce) @AF_SMC (https://twitter.com/AF_SMC)?
Stay tuned to our social accounts for updates, and visit our website here for more info:
http://ms.spr.ly/6012THsgs  (https://t.co/s16DHFAJRs)
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

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ЦитироватьRocket Test

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Ground Test of OmegA™ First Stage

Northrop Grumman will conduct a full-scale static fire test of the first stage of OmegA, the company's new intermediate/heavy-class rocket for national security missions, in Promontory, Utah. More than 12 feet in diameter and 80 feet long, the OmegA first stage will fire for 122 seconds and produce more than two million pounds of thrust.

What: Full-scale test of OmegA first stage

When: Thursday, May 30, 2019; 1:05 p.m. MDT

Where: Northrop Grumman facility in Promontory, Utah

ЦитироватьPreparing for the OmegA Rocket: How to do a Static Test

By Kendra Kastelan • May 20, 2019

Tucked into the hillside off a quiet Utah highway, bunker-like buildings go relatively unnoticed among the brush. Deep inside one of these shed-like structures rests the work of dozens of the country's best rocket scientists. Soon, years of development and dedication will culminate in a ten-second countdown and a smoke plume, but following this qualification test the opportunities are vast.

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Recently, a team of technicians in Promontory, Utah, artfully manipulated the first stage of Northrop Grumman's OmegA rocket into its final configuration using multiple cranes and other large tooling. After assembly, the 12-foot-diameter and 80-foot-long stage rests on supports, wiring spilling from its forward end and leading to data collection points carefully located based on precise measurements.

Northrop Grumman is building OmegA to launch intermediate to heavy national security payloads for the U.S. Air Force, as well as science and commercial payloads for other customers. Solid rocket motors with lightweight composite cases power the first and second stages. In a few weeks, the company will perform its first full-scale static test of the first stage, the bottom and most powerful portion of the rocket's propulsion.

When talking to Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's flight systems division, it is immediately clear he is proud of the work going on at Promontory. "This first stage ground test is a major milestone. Three and a half years ago we said we would accomplish this test in the spring of 2019, and that is exactly what we are going to do. In the National Security market, schedule is everything," he said.

In the remaining days leading up to the static test, currently scheduled for May 30, 2019, technicians will finish attaching instrumentation gauges and data recorders that will measure key characteristics such as thrust, vibration and burn rate. Then they will practice conducting the test, running through and repeating each step of the countdown multiple times. Performing these simulations ensures the team members have all the test systems calibrated and functioning properly.

"Every countdown step is critical and has to be performed with perfection," says Jamie Barney, director of test and research operations, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "We have an extremely experienced team, but no one here is ever complacent about a rocket test."

On test day, the entire test bay will roll back to expose the first stage motor attached to three "spacer" segments totaling 177 feet of white casing. When the countdown clock reaches zero, the igniter, housed in the forward segment, will rapidly ignite and pressurize the entire motor.

The motor will continue to burn for approximately two minutes, producing more than two million pounds of thrust channeled through a vectorable nozzle. During the test, 30 to 40 technicians and engineers will line the control room, closely monitoring the sensors, instrumentation, and cameras on and around the motor. They will collect approximately 700 data channels, gauging everything from case growth to component stresses to motor pressure to temperatures – all essential data to qualify this motor for flight.

"The first stage rocket motor is the heart of the OmegA vehicle," says Paul Messer, OmegA first and second stage motor program manager, Northrop Grumman. "With the critical data from the static fire test, and the post-test inspections, we can qualify our products and ensure their reliability to our customers."

For about six months after the test, the team will assess the data and disassemble, evaluate and dissect the hardware to observe the effects of motor operation. A post-assessment verdict of reliability across all systems will qualify the motor for flight.

"Successfully completing the full-scale static test later this month will be a significant milestone," says Kevin Wilder, OmegA deputy program director, Northrop Grumman. "Everyone on the team is personally invested in this program, and we are all looking forward to OmegA's first launch in 2021."

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 58 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1130867110316580865)

Final preparations are underway as we get ready for next week's static test-fire of our #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash) first stage motor! In partnership with @usairforce (https://twitter.com/usairforce) and @AF_SMC (https://twitter.com/AF_SMC), we are developing this rocket to support vital national security missions. #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

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Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 18 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1133825340084764674)

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow and watch the test fire of our #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash) first stage motor live from Utah! We'll be live at 12:45 pm MDT/2:45 pm EDT, with the test planned for 1:05 pm MDT/3:05 pm EDT.
http://www.northropgrumman.com/OmegA  (https://t.co/Bow1ZwTsFr) #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash) @AF_SMC (https://twitter.com/AF_SMC) @usairforce (https://twitter.com/usairforce) @AP_Planner (https://twitter.com/AP_Planner)

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Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 26 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1134097310156279808)

In just a few hours we will test-fire the first stage motor for our #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash)! Meet part of the team now, and tune in to our website at 12:45 p.m. MDT/2:45 p.m. EDT to watch coverage of the test live:

http://www.northropgrumman.com/OmegA  (https://t.co/Bow1ZwTsFr)

ЦитироватьOmegA Milestone: First Stage Static Test Fire

Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

Запланировано на 30 мая 2019 г.

Watch the first #OmegArocket (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%23OmegArocket) first stage motor static test fire LIVE. Join us on May 30 at 12:45 p.m. MDT/2:45 p.m. EDT as we talk to our engineers live about the development of this motor and what we can expect to see during the test fire. The test, scheduled for 1:05 p.m. MDT/3:05 p.m. EDT will validate the ballistic performance, design and product robustness of the motor.

Tune back in at 2:05 p.m. MDT/4:05 EDT for our live press conference from Promontory, Utah. Learn more at www.northropgrumman.com/OmegA.

youtube.com/watch?v=8MTM-ANa7FI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MTM-ANa7FI)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 27 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1134156143142547457)

Catch a glimpse behind the scenes at our Promontory, Utah facility as we count down to this afternoon's test of our #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash) first stage! The test fire will begin at 1:05 pm MT/3:05 pm ET, with live coverage beginning 20 minutes prior: http://www.northropgrumman.com/OmegA  (https://t.co/Bow1ZwTsFr) #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

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Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 8 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1134183680765845504)

#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash) successfully completed the test of OmegA's first stage; the motor performed nominally with an observation noted at the very end of test involving the aft exit cone of the nozzle. Tune in to the press conference starting at 2:05 p.m. MDT http://www.northropgrumman.com/OmegA  (https://t.co/Bow1ZwTsFr)

ЦитироватьNGIS OmegA First Stage Test (Nozzle Failure)

NASASpaceFlight Videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA)

Опубликовано: 30 мая 2019 г.

First static Fire Test of the new OmegA rocket first stage suffered an anomaly near the end of its firing. Appears to be a nozzle failure

ЦитироватьOmegA Milestone: First Stage Static Test Fire

Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

Трансляция началась 107 минут назад

Цитировать31 МАЯ, 01:02
В Юте прошли первые огневые испытания ракеты OmegA

Запуск носителя запланирован на 2021 год

НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 31 мая. /ТАСС/. Специалисты корпорации Northrop Grumman провели в четверг на полигоне в штате Юта первые огневые испытания первой ступени новой ракеты-носителя OmegA. Об этом сообщила пресс-служба корпорации. В ходе испытаний ракетный двигатель проработал 122 секунды. Полномасштабные огневые испытания второй ступени запланированы на осень нынешнего года.

"Разработка ракеты-носителя OmegA является приоритетом, и мы намерены обеспечить ВВС США гарантированную возможность вывода в космос важнейших полезных нагрузок, - заявил вице-президент и главный управляющий корпорации Скотт Лер. - Мы обещали провести испытания первой ступени весной 2019 года и выполнили обещание".

В октябре прошлого года ВВС США предоставили корпорации Northrop Grumman контракт на сумму $792 млн на завершение разработки ракеты OmegA. Первый старт новой ракеты-носителя запланирован на 2021 год.

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Successfully Completes First Stage Test for OmegA Rocket

OmegA on track to support certification launch in 2021
May 30, 2019

PROMONTORY, Utah – May 30, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of the first stage of its new OmegATM rocket today in Promontory, Utah. This milestone keeps OmegA on track to perform its first launch in 2021 and begin operational launches of national security payloads in 2022.

"The OmegA rocket is a top priority and our team is committed to provide the U.S. Air Force with assured access to space for our nation's most critical payloads," said Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager, flight systems, Northrop Grumman. "We committed to test the first stage of OmegA in spring 2019, and that's exactly what we've done."

During today's test, the first stage motor fired for approximately 122 seconds, producing more than two million pounds of maximum thrust—roughly the equivalent to that of eight-and-a-half jumbo jets. The test verified the performance of the motor's ballistics, insulation and joints as well as control of the nozzle position.

Last October, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million contract to complete detailed design and verification of OmegA and launch sites. Today's test verified performance of the first stage solid rocket motor for the intermediate version of OmegA.

The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act specified that a domestic next-generation rocket propulsion system "shall be developed by not later than 2019." With today's successful test fire, Northrop Grumman demonstrated the company is on track to meet this Congressionally-mandated schedule.

"Congratulations to the entire team on today's successful test," said Kent Rominger, OmegA vice president, Northrop Grumman. "OmegA's design using flight-proven hardware enables our team to meet our milestones and provide an affordable launch system that meets our customer's requirements and timeline."

A full-scale static fire test of OmegA's second stage is planned for this fall.

Спойлер

OmegA's design leverages flight proven technologies from Northrop Grumman's Pegasus®, Minotaur and AntaresTM rockets as well as the company's interceptors, targets and strategic rockets. Northrop Grumman has conducted nearly 80 successful space launch missions and has decades of experience launching critical payloads for the U.S. Department of Defense, civil and commercial customers.

The company's vehicle development team is working on the program in Arizona, Utah, Mississippi and Louisiana, with launch integration and operations planned at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The program will also support thousands of jobs across the country in its supply chain.

[свернуть]

A replay of the May 30 live broadcast, including the OmegA first stage static test, can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MTM-ANa7FI&feature=youtu.be).

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman to investigate anomaly after OmegA's first rocket motor test
by Sandra Erwin (https://spacenews.com/author/sandra-erwin/) — May 30, 2019

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Northrop Grumman on May 30, 2019, conducted a full-scale static fire test of the first stage of its new OmegA rocket. Credit: Northrop Grumman/ YouTube

"What we observed today was successful test," said Kent Rominger, Northrop Grumman's vice president and capture lead for the OmegA launch system.

WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman on Thursday conducted a full-scale static fire test of the first stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MTM-ANa7FI&feature=youtu.be) of OmegA, the company's new rocket it is developing for national security missions (https://spacenews.com/for-omega-u-s-air-force-launch-competition-is-a-must-win/). Company officials called it a successful test although it appeared that something went wrong near the end when sparks and burning debris were seen coming out of the nozzle.

More than 12 feet in diameter and 80 feet long, the first stage fired for 122 seconds at the company's test facility in Promontory, Utah. The static fire produced more than two million pounds of maximum thrust — roughly the equivalent to that of eight-and-a-half jumbo jets. The test verified the performance of the motor's ballistics, insulation and joints as well as control of the nozzle position, Northrop Grumman said in a statement.

"What we observed today was successful test," Kent Rominger, Northrop Grumman's vice president and capture lead for the OmegA launch system, told reporters at a news conference following the test.

Rocket motors are tested at high and low temperatures, he said. This test was at a high temperature of 90 degrees "so you get a little bit higher thrust," Rominger said. "It appears that everything worked very well. At the very end when the engine was tailing off, we observed the aft exit cone, maybe a portion of it, doing something a little strange that we need to go further look into."

A large plume of black smoke seen during the test was normal, Rominger said. When a motor burns out on the ground in tests, black smoke is expected whereas in space it's a much cleaner burnout.

Rominger would not confirm whether a piece or pieces of the aft exit cone came apart. "We have to dig into all that data, analyze it to see what happened," he said. The nozzle in OmegA's C600 first stage motor is a commercial nozzle that is different than the one used by NASA's Space Launch System, he said.

Michael Sanjume, chief of the Launch Enterprise Acquisition Division at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, said the Air Force will work with Northrop Grumman to analyze the data. "We view this test as an integral part of the development process," said Sanjume.

Rominger said the work required to analyze the results of Thursday's test will not affect the planned schedule for a full-scale static fire test of OmegA's second stage. That test should take place in August or September, he said.

The first flight of the OmegA rocket, scheduled for 2021, will employ a C600 first stage and a C300 second stage rocket motor. The second flight of OmegA will have the C600 and C300 configuration, with the addition of two GEM63XLT strap-on rocket motors.

Last October, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million Launch Service Agreement contract to complete the development of OmegA and the required launch sites. The company will compete in the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement competition (https://spacenews.com/air-force-requests-bids-for-space-launch-services-will-select-two-companies-in-2020/) that is now under way. The Air Force plans to select two launch providers in 2020. The other contenders are Blue Origin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman looking into dramatic nozzle anomaly on Omega rocket motor
May 30, 2019 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/05/) | William Harwood (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/bill-harwood/)

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS (http://www.cbsnews.com/) & USED WITH PERMISSION

Near the end of a ground-shaking test firing of Northrop Grumman's solid-propellant Castor 600 rocket motor — the first stage of a new booster being designed to launch spy satellites and other national security payloads — a major part of the rocket's big nozzle appeared to break apart, littering the test site with shards of debris.

Built by Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital ATK), the rocket was mounted horizontally at the company's test stand in Promontory, Utah. The Castor 600 motor, which will be used as the first stage of the company's new intermediate-class Omega rocket, appeared to fire normally for the first minute and 58 seconds or so.

At that point, just a few seconds before the rocket's solid propellant was exhausted, at least part of the nozzle appeared to break into multiple fragments. Even so, Kent Rominger, a former shuttle commander and now a Northrop Grumman vice president, called the test a success.

"It appears, everything worked very, very well on this test," he told reporters. "And at the very end when the engine was tailing off, we observed the aft exit cone, maybe a portion of it, doing something a little strange that we need to go further look into."

Northrop Grumman webcast the test firing and to the untrained eye, a significant portion of the nozzle appeared to suddenly shatter toward the end of the burn, breaking into multiple fragments that shot away from the booster's still-rushing exhaust plume.

The Castor 600 booster, similar in design to the boosters used to launch space shuttles, was heavily instrumented for its first test firing with more than 700 channels of telemetry being recorded. For the test Thursday, the booster's propellant was heated to 90 degrees before firing, allowing it to generate slightly higher-than-normal thrust.

Rominger said the observed nozzle anomaly that long after ignition might not have had a major impact during an actual flight, but "we've got to get through the data."

"The quick-look data we'll be getting within several hours, but then we have to dig into all that data and analyze kind of what it is you're talking about to see, in fact, what happened," he said. "So what you saw was at the very end of the tail off, you could have had a very normal, nominal thrust profile, but the truth is we need to go pull the data to analyze that."

Northrop Grumman is building more powerful solid-propellant boosters for NASA's huge Space Launch System rocket, which will be used in the early 2020s to launch astronauts back to the moon. It was not immediately known what impact, if any, the test anomaly Thursday might have on the SLS program.

But Rominger downplayed commonality between the two designs.

"This nozzle is a little bit different, a little bit more of a commercial nozzle than SLS," Rominger said. "So there are distinct differences between these nozzles."

Спойлер

In October 2018, Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin won Air Force contracts totaling more than $2 billion to develop next-generation rockets capable of boosting high-value national security payloads into orbit. Northrop Grumman's share for development of the Omega rocket was $791.6 million. Two of the new rockets will be selected for military use in a second competition.

Northrop Grumman is developing two versions of the three-stage Omega rocket, one featuring the Castor 600 first stage motor and the other a more powerful Castor 1200. Both versions will use Castor 300 solid-propellant second stages and an upper stage powered by hydrogen-fueled RL10C engines provided by Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Smaller strap-on solid-propellant motors can be attached to the first stage for additional lift-off power.

[свернуть]

The company said earlier that two full-scale static test firings, one of the first stage and one of the second, would qualify the intermediate version of the rocket for an initial test flight in 2021. Operational flights could begin in 2022.

A test firing of the Castor 300 upper stage motor is planned for the August-September timeframe, but that assumes no major delays due to the nozzle anomaly or any other issues.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67594.png) Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF) 1 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1162348095507705858)
Full video of the handover ceremony of VAB HB2 and MLP3 to @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) for use with their #OmegA (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegA?src=hash) rocket program. CLICK to watch video: https://youtu.be/esPx-uQuoCU  (https://t.co/wqd3TUMdxJ) via @YouTube (https://twitter.com/YouTube). @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight)

ЦитироватьLIVE: NASA and NGIS

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220572.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA) NASASpaceFlight Videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA)

Трансляция началась 18 минут назад

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPx-uQuoCU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPx-uQuoCU) (18:00)

ЦитироватьRecap of Northrop Grumman VAB ceremony for OmegA

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220572.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA) NASASpaceFlight Videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA)

Трансляция началась 38 минут назад

ЦитироватьСергей написал:
Конечно, в основном испытание успешное, но промахнуться так с соплом при американском опыте как то неприлично. Но с причинами разберутся, скоростная видео съемка наверняка есть, телеметрия также. И может быть дело не в материале сверхзвуковой части сопла, а в возникших дефектах дозвуковой части сопла, правда сопло короткое и это маловероятно.

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Becomes First Commercial Partner to Use VAB

Anna Heiney (https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/author/aheiney/)
Posted Aug 16, 2019 at 11:35 am

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/130913.jpg) (https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/wp-content/uploads/sites/246/2019/08/NG_KSC-20190816-PH_KLS01_0073.jpg)
A model of Northrop Grumman's OmegA launch vehicle is flanked by the U.S. flag and a flag bearing the OmegA logo during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 16 in High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett

After spending more than 50 years supporting NASA's human spaceflight programs, the Vehicle Assembly Building (https://www.nasa.gov/content/vehicle-assembly-building) (VAB), a landmark at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is getting its first commercial tenant.

Northrop Grumman will assemble and test its new OmegA rocket inside the massive facility's High Bay 2, one of four high bays in the building. Officials with NASA, Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force gathered in High Bay 2 on Aug. 16 to celebrate the partnership with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by legislative representatives and spaceport employees.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/130915.jpg) (https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/wp-content/uploads/sites/246/2019/08/NG_KSC-20190816-PH_KLS01_0125.jpg)
From left to right, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, Northrop Grumman Vice President and OmegA Capture Lead Kent Rominger, and Col. Thomas Ste. Marie, vice commander of the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing, cut the ribbon in High Bay 2.

The company also is modifying mobile launcher platform-3 (MLP-3) to serve as the launch vehicle's assembly and launch platform. Both the VAB and MLP-3 were originally built for the Apollo Program and went on to enable the three-decade Space Shuttle Program. The VAB also will be the assembly site for NASA's Space Launch System (https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html) rocket, which will carry the Orion spacecraft on Artemis (https://www.nasa.gov/artemis) missions to the Moon.

"With OmegA, we truly are standing on the shoulders of the giants of space history," said Kent Rominger, Northrop Grumman's vice president and capture lead for the OmegA launch system, as well as a veteran of five space shuttle flights. "This event marks that partnership with [Kennedy] at this phenomenal spaceport."

Northrop Grumman signed a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement with NASA for use of the facilities. The company is developing the OmegA rocket, an intermediate/heavy-class launch vehicle, as a part of a launch services agreement with the U.S. Air Force.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/130914.jpg) (https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/wp-content/uploads/sites/246/2019/08/NG_KSC-20190816-PH_KLS01_0108.jpg)
A model of the Northrop Grumman OmegA rocket, an intermediate/heavy-class launch vehicle, stands in High Bay 2.

Kennedy has transformed from a government-only space launch complex to the nation's premier multi-user spaceport. Today, the space center has more than 90 active agreements with private-sector partners, sharing its array of unique facilities and resources through partnerships with government and commercial organizations.

This latest agreement brings Northrop Grumman into the fold.

"We have a great partnership with Northrop Grumman; we have a great partnership with all our partners," said Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana. "It's a great pleasure to be able to be here today and cut the ribbon after signing this historic agreement to utilize this awesome facility to support our nation's space program."

The addition of Northrop Grumman's OmegA rocket to the stable of vehicles processed and launched from the spaceport continues a long legacy that defines the local community.

"This whole area has been home to innovation and the drive to be bolder," said Col. Thomas Ste. Marie, vice commander of the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing. "These efforts, government and contractor, have fueled the economies and the imagination and, really, the spirit of this community that we like to call the Space Coast."

ЦитироватьRocket Test

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/209372.jpg) 

Static Fire Test of GEM 63

Northrop Grumman will conduct a full-scale static fire test of the GEM 63, the company's next generation of Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) family of strap-on boosters to support intermediate- and large-class space launch vehicles, in Promontory, Utah. This motor was developed in partnership with United Launch Alliance to support national security, science and commercial payload launches of its Atlas V vehicle starting in 2020. At 66 feet long, the 63-inch diameter motor will fire for approximately 100 seconds and produce approximately 359,000 pounds of thrust.

What: Full-scale test of the GEM 63

When: Thursday, October 10, 2019; 1:00 p.m. MDT/3:00 p.m. EDT

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg)Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 15 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1179809090303905794)

Our GEM 63 motor has started the cold-conditioning process to reach a temperature of 40 degrees F ahead of its qualification test on Oct. 10. This motor will support @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)'s #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) launch vehicle beginning in 2020.
More: http://ms.spr.ly/6015TRHvN  (https://t.co/XC8x8Z26Vq)
#NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/177080.jpg)

ЦитироватьGEM 63 Rocket Motor QM-3 Static Test

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220523.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/user/northropgrummanmedia) Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

15 окт. 2019 г.

On October 10, we completed the third static test fire of our GEM 63 rocket motor that will be used as a direct replacement for the existing strap-on boosters on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket. Firing for approximately 101 seconds at our Promontory, Utah, site, the 63-inch diameter motor satisfied additional requirements by the U.S. Air Force.

ЦитироватьSolid rocket motor test-fired for Atlas 5 debut next year
October 20, 2019 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/10/) | Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

A new solid rocket motor built by Northrop Grumman has aced its final test-firing before a scheduled debut on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight next year.

Northrop Grumman's GEM 63 solid rocket motor will replace the Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid-fueled booster that has flown on Atlas 5 rockets since 2003.

Billed as a "direct replacement" for the AJ-60A, Northrop Grumman's GEM 63 booster produces roughly the same thrust and has approximately the same dimensions as the Atlas 5's incumbent solid-fueled boosters.

Northrop Grumman performed the third in a series of GEM 63 test-firings Oct. 10 at the company's Promontory, Utah, site before the new solid rocket motor's first launch on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral late next year.

Kendra Kastelan, a Northrop Grumman spokesperson, said the company has no further test-firings planned for the GEM 63 motor before its first launch.

A spokesperson with the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, which procures launch services for U.S. military and intelligence-gathering satellites, said the the first use of the GEM 63 solid rocket booster on an Atlas 5 mission is scheduled for September 2020.

The mission, codenamed NROL-101, will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the government's top secret spy satellites, the Air Force spokesperson confirmed to Spaceflight Now. Five GEM 63 boosters will help the Atlas 5's main engine propel the NROL-101 payload into space, an Atlas 5 configuration with a 5-meter (17-foot) fairing known as the Atlas 5-551.

The GEM 63 motor is an enlarged version of the GEM 60 booster built by Northrop Grumman for ULA's Delta 4 rocket family. The last GEM 60 motor flew on a Delta 4 launch in August. ULA's five remaining Delta 4 missions will launch in the rocket's heavy-lift configuration with three liquid-fueled cores, and no strap-on solid rocket boosters.

Northrop Grumman, through its predecessors ATK and Orbital ATK, also supplied smaller boosters — called Graphite Epoxy Motors — for the now-retired Delta 2 and Delta 3 rocket families.

The new motor is designated the GEM 63 because of its 63-inch (1.6-meter) diameter. It measures 66 feet (20 meters) long and will generate up to 373,800 pounds of thrust during launch, consuming some 97,500 pounds (44.2 metric tons) of pre-packed solid propellant during a burn lasting around 100 seconds, before the booster is jettisoned.

Like the AJ-60A motor, the GEM 63 will have fixed nozzles and ogive nose cone, providing the proper aerodynamic shape to ensure the booster cleanly falls away from the Atlas 5 after burnout.

ULA's ground processing team rehearsed transportation, handling and mating procedures using an inert GEM 63 motor at the Atlas 5 launch pad in May. The team practiced installing the inert motor on an Atlas 5 first stage inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad to verify clearances and techniques before working with a real GEM 63 motor next year.

Tory Bruno, ULA's president and CEO, wrote on Twitter that all Atlas 5 missions will eventually convert over to the new GEM 63 motor. ULA has not said when the company's inventory of AJ-60A boosters will run out, or identified the final launch with Aerojet Rocketdyne-built solid rocket motors.

Crewed launches with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will also eventually switch over to the GEM 63 booster, Bruno tweeted in response to a question from Spaceflight Now.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145773.jpg)
United Launch Alliance ground teams rehearsed handling and lifting an inert GEM 63 motor earlier this year at the Atlas 5 launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Aerojet Rocketdyne's AJ-60A motor has a flawless record since its first use on the Atlas 5's third launch in July 2003, with 115 of the boosters flown to date.

ULA announced in 2015 the selection of Orbital ATK — now part of Northrop Grumman — to provide solid rocket boosters for future Atlas 5 launches, and for the next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket. At the time, ULA said the selection of the GEM 63 rocket motor would "significantly lower the price to ULA and to the U.S. government."

A lengthened version of the GEM 63 known as the GEM 63XL will fly on ULA's new Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is scheduled for an inaugural launch in 2021. The Atlas 5 rocket can fly with any number of solid rocket boosters from zero to five, while the Vulcan Centaur will launch in standardized configurations with two or six strap-on motors alongside the rocket's two Blue Origin BE-4 main engines.

Northrop Grumman's planned OmegA launcher, which is competing with ULA's Vulcan Centaur for Air Force contracts, is designed to fly with up to six GEM 63XLT strap-on boosters, another variant of the new GEM 63 solid rocket motor.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185703.jpg) Northrop Grumman‏ @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) 3 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman/status/1186668545641504768)

All three carbon fiber motor cases for the first certification flight of our #OmegArocket (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegArocket?src=hash) are in production, bringing us one step closer to its first flight. Learn more about the rocket: http://www.northropgrumman.com/MediaResources/MediaKits/OmegARocket/Home.aspx ... (https://t.co/e5bbAxuYod) #NorthropGrumman (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorthropGrumman?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/177527.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185136.jpg) Thomas Schumann‏ @Tschnn (https://twitter.com/Tschnn) 33 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/Tschnn/status/1187009600450682885)

Performance of the Omega rocket by @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) #IAC2019 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAC2019?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/177570.jpg)

ЦитироватьOmegA Rocket: Counting Down to 2021 Launch

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220523.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/user/northropgrummanmedia) Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

18 окт. 2019 г.

The powerful OmegA rocket is a top priority for Northrop Grumman, and we are counting down to launch in 2021.

OmegA has the thrust needed to launch intermediate/heavy national security missions as well as satellites for civil and commercial customers.

The United States Air Force, Northrop Grumman and suppliers across the U.S. are partners in developing and manufacturing OmegA. Scientists, engineers and expert technicians are building and testing flight hardware and ground system equipment for OmegA's first flight.

Milestones featured in this video:
• Successfully completed full scale static test of first stage
• Set up friction stir welding operations at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility
• Began working in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
• Started making modifications to Mobile Launch Platform 3
• Completed winding and cure for the first stage cases for OmegA's first flight
• Assembled the first flight set of upper stage engines

Northrop Grumman designed the OmegA rocket specifically to address performance, schedule, ride quality and reliability needs of national security payloads. It uses highly reliable solid fuel for the boost phases of launch. OmegA's cryogenic upper stage uses two proven RL10 engines. Its avionics have flown on more than 100 missions with 100 percent success. Leveraging existing facilities, technologies with high technical readiness levels and an experienced workforce keeps OmegA affordable for a wide range of missions.

Northrop Grumman is excited about several innovative ways we will evolve the design over the next few years to achieve even greater performance.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьOmegA rocket will launch up to two NationSats for Saturn Satellite Networks on certification flight for the US Air Force NSSL program in spring 2021
December 12, 2019

DULLES, Va. – Dec. 12, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced that Saturn Satellite Networks has selected the OmegA space launch vehicle to launch up to two satellites on the rocket's inaugural flight scheduled for spring 2021. OmegA will launch fr om Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B and ins ert the SSN satellites in to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/190732.jpg)
Northrop Grumman's OmegA rocket will launch up to two satellites manufactured by Saturn Satellite Networks in the spring of 2021. Image credit: Northrop Grumman

"The OmegA rocket expands Northrop Grumman's launch capabilities beyond our small and medium class rockets, which have successfully launched nearly 80 missions," said Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager, flight systems, Northrop Grumman. "Expanding the company's launch capabilities to the intermediate/heavy class with OmegA complements our national security satellite portfolio and enables us to better support our customers."

Jim Simpson, CEO of Saturn, said, "We are excited to launch Saturn's NationSat on Northrop Grumman's OmegA launch vehicle's inaugural mission. OmegA's performance, payload accommodations, and rigorous certification program assures us it is a great fit for NationSats and our customers."

Last October, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million Launch Services Agreement to complete detailed design and verification of the OmegA launch vehicle and launch sites.

"The first flight of OmegA is a key step in our certification process for the U.S. Air Force National Security Space Launch program," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "Having Saturn's NationSat on board for this mission further demonstrates the versatility of OmegA to serve other markets including commercial and civil government."

Precourt continued, "Our customer's mission comes first, whether OmegA is launching a commercial satellite or a national security payload. At the end of the day, we deliver the customer's spacecraft wh ere it needs to go."

"Northrop Grumman designed OmegA to use the most reliable propulsion available—solid propulsion for the boost stages and flight proven RL10 engines for the upper stage—to ensure exceptional mission assurance for our customers," Precourt added. "Northrop Grumman's technical expertise is both broad and deep, and we bring unmatched experience, stability and a strong customer focus to every partnership."
...

Цитироватьhttps://spacenews.com/omega-rockets-first-customer-still-needs-customer-of-its-own/

OmegA rocket's first customer still needs customer of its own
by Caleb Henry — December 16, 2019

WASHINGTON — Startup satellite builder Saturn Satellite Networks says it doesn't have a customer lined up for the small geostationary spacecraft it booked aboard the inaugural launch of Northrop Grumman's OmegA rocket, but reserved the 2021 mission to save time down the road.  

Northrop Grumman announced Dec. 12 that Saturn agreed to launch one or two of its NationSat line of small geostationary communications satellites on the maiden flight of OmegA, a solid-fueled rocket Northrop Grumman is building to compete for U.S. national security missions.

Saturn CEO Jim Simpson said making the OmegA launch reservation before it has customers locked down for the NationSat spacecraft OmegA would carry is part of the startup's strategy for providing a one-stop-shop for its target customers.

"Part of our objective is to provide delivery in orbit of our satellite systems," Simpson said in a Nov. 12 interview. "As such, it's very incumbent upon Saturn to secure multiple launch options to give customers multiple alternatives at the lowest possible cost."

Saturn formed earlier this year to build small geostationary satellites for customers that can't afford or justify a traditional, multiton communications satellite. It considers small nations ideal customers.

Saturn's first NationSat satellite, for Moscow-based Intersputnik, is slated to launch on a shared SpaceX Falcon 9 mission that has slipped from 2020 to 2021.

Simpson said Saturn will retain ownership of the satellite, but will lease the capacity to Intersputnik for the lifetime of the spacecraft. Simpson said Saturn will provide lifetime capacity leases or full ownership of satellites depending on customer preference and regulatory restrictions.

Simpson said Saturn is close to clinching a second NationSat customer it expects to announce early next year. Whether that second NationSat will be assigned to OmegA or another rocket is to be determined, he said.

Saturn is offering NationSats as both single-operator satellites and so-called condosats shared by multiple operators.

Northrop Grumman is counting on Saturn to fill one of two certification flights it needs to fly to qualify OmegA for U.S. national security launches, said Charlie Precourt, Northrop Grumman's vice president of propulsion systems. He said Northrop Grumman has a backup plan for those flights if Saturn's satellites don't come through in time, but he declined to discuss specifics.

"Those are details that we've worked with them behind the scenes," Precourt said. "But our first focus is with the Air Force."

Northrop Grumman's primary focus with OmegA is the U.S. military market, having received a $792 million Launch Service Agreement from the Air Force last year meant to cultivate more launch options for the National Security Space Launch program.

The Air Force expects to sel ect two launch providers next year, choosing among Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance for launch contracts anticipated to be worth billions of dollars collectively.

Whether Northrop Grumman continues development of OmegA will be heavily influenced by the Air Force's downselect.

Simpson said Saturn is aware of that risk.

"[That] is why we want to have multiple launch options to provide our customers," he said. "No one wants to be reliant on one launch vehicle."

Precourt said Saturn and Northrop Grumman have a contingency plan if OmegA is canceled.

"Suffice it to say that's been contemplated and we're dealing with it," Precourt said, without elaborating.

Precourt said Northrop Grumman plans to use the Saturn launch as one of two certification flights to qualify the rocket for U.S. national security launches.

"We're targeting somewhere in the first part of 2021 for that first flight and we'll be right on the heels of it as quickly as we can with the second," he said.

Precourt said Northrop Grumman keeps OmegA costs down by using the same factories and much of the same launch infrastructure as its smaller Antares rocket and NASA's Space Launch System, a Boeing-led heavy-lift rocket with side-mounted solid rocket boosters supplied by Northrop Grumman. He said OmegAs price is "competitive," but would not give a specific figure.

Simpson said his experience at Aerojet Rocketdyne, which supplies engines for United Launch Alliance rockets and Northrop Grumman's OmegA, convinced him that any rocket the U.S. military chooses will be reliable for commercial customers as well.

"It provided us a lot of confidence that the launch vehicle would have all of the criteria that we would like to see in a launch vehicle tested prior," he said. "That's why we were excited about having OmegA as part of our launch vehicle options, because of the rigor that's involved in being part of the NSSL program."

Simpson said Saturn's NationSats are small enough to fit on secondary payload adapters. Originally sized between 600 and 1,700 kilograms, Simpson said the largest NationSats will now be around 1,000 kilograms due to a decision to use electric propulsion instead of chemical.

Simpson said Saturn anticipates forming more placeholder launch agreements over the next 12 months.

ЦитироватьSaturn's first NationSat satellite, for Moscow-based Intersputnik, is slated to launch on a shared SpaceX Falcon 9 mission that has slipped fr om 2020 to 2021.

Simpson said Saturn will retain ownership of the satellite, but will lease the capacity to Intersputnik for the lifetime of the spacecraft. Simpson said Saturn will provide lifetime capacity leases or full ownership of satellites depending on customer preference and regulatory restrictions.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185137.jpg) Justin Davenport‏ @Bubbinski (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski) 9 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski/status/1233076877134184448)

I have arrived at NGC for the #OmegA (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegA?src=hash) CBS 300 test

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/180642.jpg)


7 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski/status/1233118071482544129)

The OmegA  CBS-300 stage at T-10 min to firing

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/180653.jpg)


6 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski/status/1233121031822270465)

And she is lit!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/180654.jpg)


6 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski/status/1233121253424128000)

T+60 sec

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/180656.jpg)


6 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Bubbinski/status/1233121646694658048)

Test done!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/180655.jpg)

ЦитироватьNG OmegA CBS-300 Solid Rocket Motor Test - Feb 27, 2020

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220546.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA) NASASpaceflight (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSUu1lih2RifWkKtDOJdsBA)

27 февр. 2020 г.

Northrop Grumman's OmegA finished another step toward its first flight next year when it was test-fired for 140 seconds (2 minutes 20 seconds) on Thursday at the NGC solid rocket motor factory and test site in Promontory, Utah.

Video by Justin Davenport for NSF.

ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Successfully Completes Second Stage Test for OmegA™ Rocket

OmegA on track to support certification launch in 2021

February 27, 2020

PROMONTORY, Utah – Feb. 27, 2020 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of the second stage of its OmegA rocket today in Promontory, Utah. Developed to support the U.S. Space Force's National Security Space Launch program, the OmegA Launch System remains on track for its first certification flight in spring 2021.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/190760.jpg)

During today's test, the second stage motor fired for full-duration, approximately 140 seconds, burning nearly 340,000 pounds of solid propellant to produce upwards of 785,000 pounds of thrust. The test verified the motor's ballistics and thermal performance as well as steering control and performance in a cold-conditioned environment. The test team collected more than 500 channels of data to aid in verifying the motor.

"Northrop Grumman designed OmegA to use the most reliable propulsion available to ensure exceptional mission assurance for our customers," said Charlie Precourt, vice president, propulsion systems, Northrop Grumman. "Today's firing is a significant accomplishment that demonstrates a domestic solution for the RD-180 rocket engine replacement."

In October 2018, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $792 million Launch Services Agreement to complete detailed design and verification of the OmegA space launch vehicle and launch sites. Today's cold test, in conjunction with the successful hot static fire in May 2019, subjected OmegA's motors to the most extreme propellant temperatures the rocket will experience during storage, transport, stacking and launch.

Northrop Grumman has leveraged its flight proven technologies and extensive experience launching critical payloads in the development of the OmegA launch system. The rocket was designed to accommodate national security payloads while also serving the civil and commercial markets.

In preparation for OmegA's inaugural flight, Northrop Grumman now occupies High Bay 2 as the first commercial tenant in NASA's historic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Construction crews are currently modifying Mobile Launch Platform-3 to serve as OmegA's assembly and launch platform at Pad 39B.

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

ЦитироватьOmegA Rocket Second Stage Motor Test Fire

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/220523.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/user/northropgrummanmedia) Northrop Grumman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTTe3mBodoZVGVhQDpEFjg)

28 февр. 2020 г.

We successfully test fired the #OmegArocket (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%23OmegArocket) second stage motor Feb. 27, keeping it on track for first launch in 2021. www.northropgrumman.com/omega (http://www.northropgrumman.com/omega)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185037.png) (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF)  Chris G - NSF @ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF) 00:08 (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1246182794922987525) - Apr 4, 2020

It was a pleasure speaking with @Astro_Precourt (https://twitter.com/Astro_Precourt) & @northropgrumman (https://twitter.com/northropgrumman) about their #OmegA (https://twitter.com/hashtag/OmegA?src=hash) rocket.  All is on track for a Spring 2021 launch.  Read up on all work going on with rocket's ground elements... and about progress on the cryo upper stage!

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Цитировать(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1246182113390538755/bhm4W7Iy?format=jpg&name=600x314)
Northrop Grumman making good progress toward OmegA's first launch - NASASpaceFlight.com
At various centers in the United States, Northrop Grumman is marching toward the OmegA rocket's...
nasaspaceflight.com (https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/04/northrop-grumman-progress-omega/)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67585.jpg) Eric Berger @SciGuySpace 25 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1295826841853403139)

Hearing that Northrop Grumman will cancel the Omega rocket after it failed to win the recent Air Force contest.


17 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1295829233357459457)

Don't feel too bad for Northrop. NASA is still paying them a king's ransom for side-boosters for the slS rocket.

Цитироватьhttps://spacenews.com/northrop-grumman-to-terminate-omega-rocket-program/

by Sandra Erwin — September 9, 2020

WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman announced it will not move forward with the development of the OmegA rocket. The vehicle was designed for the sole purpose of competing for a National Security Space Launch contract award but didn't make the cut.

"We have chosen not to continue development of the OmegA launch system at this time," Northrop Grumman spokeswoman Jennifer Bowman said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to play a key role in National Security Space Launch missions and leveraging our OmegA investments in other activities across our business."
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