Новости Aerojet Rocketdyne

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/aerojet-rocketdyne-ula-win-air-force-propulsion-contracts/

Aerojet Rocketdyne, ULA win Air Force propulsion contracts
by Mike Gruss — February 29, 2016

ULA ultimately plans to replace the Atlas 5 with the Vulcan, but envisions at least a couple of years of overlapping operations between the two vehicles. Credit: ULA  
 
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force will invest up to $536 million in Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1 rocket engine and as much as $202 million in United Launch Alliance's next-generation Vulcan rocket as a way to end dependence on the Russian rocket engine used to launch most U.S. national security payloads, according to a  Feb. 29 announcement from the Pentagon.
Aerojet Rocketdyne will use the money to help develop its AR1 engine. ULA will use the money to develop a prototype of its Vulcan launch vehicle with the BE-4 engine and to work on its next-generation upper stage engine known as the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage, or ACES.
The contracts are among the Air Force's top space acquisition priorities for 2016.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is developing an engine dubbed the AR1 that, like the Russian RD-180 that powers ULA's Atlas 5 rocket, is fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The Air Force awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a $115 million contract on Feb. 29 to develop the engine for ULA's Vulcan rocket, but said with all options the potential government investment could reach $536 million. Aerojet Rocketdyne could contribute as much as $268 million to the program.
"AR1 will return the United States to the forefront of kerosene rocket propulsion technology," Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne's chief executive officer, said in a press release. "We are incorporating the latest advances in modern manufacturing, while capitalizing on our rich knowledge of rocket engines to produce a new, state-of-the-art engine that will end our reliance on a foreign supplier to launch our nation's national security assets."
Aerojet executives say they plan to test the first AR1 development engine in 2017, followed by additional testing in 2018 and to provide a certified engine in 2019.
However, ULA announced in September 2014 that its first choice for a new engine for its Vulcan rocket is the BE-4, a liquid-natural-gas fueled engine that cannot be used on the Atlas 5 as currently designed. Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is developing that engine using its own funds.
The Air Force also awarded ULA a $46 million contract on Feb. 29 to develop the upper stage engine and a prototype of the Vulcan rocket using the BE-4. With all options the potential government investment could reach $202 million. ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, could contribute as much as $134 million.
ULA has said the Vulcan could be certified for national security launches around 2022 and that the ACES upper stage engine could fly as early as 2023. Last year, ULA officials said an ACES-equipped Vulcan, augmented by strap-on boosters, would have 30 percent more lift capacity than the Delta 4 Heavy, currently the largest vehicle in the U.S. fleet.
ULA has a contract with Aerojet to retain the AR1 as a backup in case the BE-4 effort falters. ULA is expected to choose which engine it will develop for Vulcan late this year.

Спойлер

When the Air Force solicited proposals in June, it said it intended to award a total of $160 million to fund work on both main- and upper-stage rocket engines. Industry would be required 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.
On Jan. 13 the service announced the first of the awards and said it would invest at least $46.9 million and perhaps as much as $180 million, to develop three technologies for a new rocket from Orbital ATK.   In addition, SpaceX received at least $33.6 million, and perhaps as much as $61 million, to continue development of its reusable methane-fueled Raptor engine.
In light of the Crimean crisis of 2014, 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.

[свернуть]

[Seerndv]

Пентагон назвал фирмы, которые разработают замену российским РД-180
03:0701.03.20160701.03.2016 (обновлено: 10:19 01.03.2016)

Пентагон планирует, что до конца 2019 года двигатели, которыми заменят российские РД-180, должны быть переданы в ВВС США и использоваться в космических запусках.


© AP Photo/ Globe Newswire

ВАШИНГТОН, 1 мар – РИА Новости. Компании United Launch Services (ULA) и Aerojet Rocketdyne получили контракты Минобороны США стоимостью 46,6 миллиона долларов и 115,3 миллиона долларов соответственно на создание до конца 2019 года ракетных двигателей взамен российских РД-180, сообщил Пентагон во вторник.
 
Компания Aerojet Rocketdyne должна, по условиям контракта, разработать прототип двигателя AR1. На проект выделяется 115,313 миллиона долларов. Контракт предусматривает возможность его расширения до 536 миллионов долларов.
Контракт с ULA первоначальной стоимостью 46,6 миллиона долларов предусматривает разработку ракетного двигателя Vulcan BE-4 и ракетной силовой установки Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES). Контракт впоследствии может быть расширен до 201,6 миллиона долларов.

В обоих случаях двигатели, которые будут использоваться для нужд космических запусков в целях обеспечения безопасности США, должны быть переданы заказчику, которым выступают ВВС США, не позднее 31 декабря 2019 года.
Конгресс США на фоне разногласий с Россией запретил в 2014 году закупки РД-180. Однако эти закупки вновь были разрешены в бюджетном законе в декабре 2015 года. Ранее сообщалось, что Пентагон планирует представить частные разработки на замену российским двигателям до 2019 года.

РИА Новости http://ria.ru/world/20160301/1382233367.html#ixzz41dSRtVUj

[Apollo13]

Вначале выделить SpaceX и Orbital ATK символические суммы, чтобы не протестовали когда Aerojet и ULA получат основные деньги. Хитрый план

[silentpom]

удивительно, что aerojet дали

[Apollo13]

silentpom пишет:
удивительно, что aerojet дали

Удивительно, что дали кому-то кроме Аэроджет.

[silentpom]

это диалектика. у аэроджета самое осмысленное с точки зрения пентагона предложение. вместо того, чтобы отвалить денег ему, его как-то динамят уже третий год, я уж решил что совсем решили слить, а тут на тебе.

[Seerndv]

Aerojet gets a big boost in race to develop rocket engine

Aerojet Rocketdyne conducts hot-fire testing of a multi-element preburner injector for the AR1 rocket engine.
 (Mike Labbe / Aerojet Rocketdyne)
Los Angeles Times
 


Aerojet Rocketdyne has won a slot in the race to develop a U.S.-built engine to blast government spy satellites into space.
The Sacramento manufacturer has formed a partnership with the Air Force and a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. to create a replacement for the Russian engine used to propel many government satellites into orbit.
The partnership gives Aerojet a much-needed boost as it competes with Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to develop an American engine for United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket.
"I think they've been given a fresh breath of life with this decision," said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst at the Teal Group, an aerospace and defense research group.
The partnership will fund the continued development of Aerojet's AR1 engine, which is fueled with liquid oxygen and kerosene. The booster engine is slated for completion in 2019.
Under the agreement, the Air Force will invest two-thirds of the money needed to complete development. Initially, the Air Force will contribute $115.3 million, and Aerojet and ULA will supply $57.7 million.
The total potential investment fr om the government is $536 million. Aerojet and its partners' potential investment is $268 million, for a total agreement value of $804 million.
"This is big," Aerojet Chief Executive Eileen Drake said in an interview. "We're very, very pleased that the Air Force and the United Launch Alliance recognize our progress and our company's investment and commitment."
Aerojet's business is split evenly with 50% in defense and 50% in space. Drake said both businesses are "very, very strong" and that its contract backlog as of November 2015 was $4.1 billion — the highest number in corporate history.
The partnership comes as Aerojet faces major challenges to its space launch business, said Loren Thompson, aerospace analyst at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va., think tank.
ULA had been working primarily with Bezos' Blue Origin to develop an American engine for the Vulcan rocket.
The BE-4, a liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas rocket engine, has been funded by Blue Origin with investment from ULA.
On Monday, ULA and Blue Origin announced a partnership with the Air Force to develop the BE-4 engine and ULA's Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage rocket propulsion system, which is an upper-stage engine for the Vulcan rocket.
 
ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno said his company is continuing to work with Blue Origin and Aerojet to pursue two options for the next-generation American engine.
If ULA went with Blue Origin for its liquid engines and used another rocket engine provider for its solid fuel engines, the move "could significantly diminish Aerojet's business mix," Thompson said.
"This partnership will greatly bolster Aerojet's prospects for remaining in the launch business as a robust competitor," he said of Aerojet and ULA's partnership with the Air Force.
Aerojet's AR1 engine is intended to replace the Russian-built RD-180, which powers ULA's Atlas V rocket. Aerojet said the AR1 engine can also be used for ULA's Vulcan rocket, which will be powered by an American engine and launch for the first time in 2019.
Congress has put limitations on the use of Russian rocket engines to blast government satellites into orbit, and imposed a deadline of 2019 for the development of an American-made rocket engine.
Analysts say the competition between Blue Origin and Aerojet could come down to cost versus reliability.
"There is more of a potential payoff with a Blue Origin engine, but there's also more of a risk because it's new technology," Caceres said. "There's less of a risk with Aerojet, but it might be more expensive."
Drake didn't specify whether the new partnership would add jobs at Aerojet's Canoga Park or Sacramento operations, wh ere most of the AR1 design and engineering work is done, but she said the award would benefit the state's industrial base.
"We are a major company headquartered in California, so it's great for our future, as well as any suppliers that we might have in the California area," she said. Aerojet employs about 4,800 people nationwide, with 1,100 in Canoga Park.
California was once a hub for conventional airplane manufacturing, but most of the state's aerospace industry growth now comes from drone development and space-related technologies. In Southern California, the industry has pivoted toward guided missile and space vehicle development, according to a report released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
In 2014, Southern California employees in the missile and space vehicle parts sector totaled 35.9% of the region's aerospace industry workforce, compared with 6.6% in 2004. Southern California companies make up 20% of the nation's employment in this area, according to the report.
"We're always going to have aircraft and aircraft parts, which we are very strong in, but the growth of the industry is going into space," said Christine Cooper, senior vice president of the LAEDC and lead author of the aerospace industry report.
The total number of direct jobs in the Southern California aerospace industry in 2014 was 85,500, a 1.4% decline from the 86,700 jobs in 2013, Cooper said. These tallies do not include public employees, such as those who work for NASA or NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. If they did, the total number of aerospace workers in the region would be more than 100,000.
Total industry employment in the region has declined continuously since 2006 at an average rate of 1.8% a year, according to the report. Some traditional industries, such as aircraft instrument manufacturing, are also being farmed out to other sectors outside of aerospace, she said.
samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

- итак всё-таки "Атлас", но у же с AR1?

[Apollo13]

AR1 _предназначен_ (Аэроджетом) для Атласа. Захотят ли владельцы Атласа его ставить ещё большой вопрос.

[Искандер]

Apollo13 пишет:
AR1 _предназначен_ (Аэроджетом) для Атласа. Захотят ли владельцы Атласа его ставить ещё большой вопрос.

Деньги на двигатель дают военные, значит заказывать они будут именно Атлас. Та же самая РН, но только с отечественными двигателями аналогичной мощности и характеристик,  их вполне устроит, сертификация ёё много проще. 

У Вулкана же по сути вся первая ступень инновация, требующая сертификации и длительных испытаний.
Обстоятельства могут повернуться так, что Атлас будет параллельно с Вулканом, как сейчас с Дельтой.

Атлас живет с новыми двигателями для "войны". Вулкан замена "золотой" Дельты.
Ну, а почему собственно "нет"?

[Salo]

Это Ваши домыслы. А вот на Антарес втулить могут.

[Искандер]

Salo пишет:
Это Ваши домыслы. А вот на Антарес втулить могут.

Конечно домыслы. В Антарес втулить могут, но и это тоже домыслы. 
 
2/3 платят Air Force...

 Air Force will invest two-thirds of the money needed to complete development

И за это кто-то будет отвечать.

[Apollo13]

http://spacenews.com/air-force-could-fund-aerojet-rocketdyne-engine-even-if-ula-doesnt-use-it/

Air Force could fund Aerojet Rocketdyne engine even if ULA doesn't use it

by Mike Gruss — March 2, 2016

Aerojet Rocketdyne said it has had discussions with at least two other launch providers, in addition to United Launch Alliance, to use the new AR1 engine it is developing. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne


WASHINGTON – Aerojet Rocketdyne has held discussions with at least two unnamed launch providers, in addition to United Launch Alliance, who have an interest in using the AR1  rocket engine the company is developing, Aerojet's president said March 1.
The U.S. Air Force announced Feb. 29 it was investing $115 million this year, and with options, as much as $536 million over the next five years, in AR1, a new liquid oxygen- and kerosene-fueled  main-stage engine. The contract award is part of an Air Force initiative to end reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 engine that powers ULA's Atlas 5 workhorse rocket.
The Air Force said in a Feb. 29 announcement that its AR1  investment is being made with the intent that it would power ULA's next-generation rocket, known as Vulcan.
But ULA executives have said their top choice for an engine is Blue Origin's BE-4, and that they are continuing to work with Aerojet Rocketdyne on the AR1 as a backup plan.
Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne's chief executive, said in March 1 interview with SpaceNews that the Air Force could continue to fund work on the AR1 even if ULA chooses to move forward with the BE-4.
"Each year is a different discussion," she said of the contract's options. "The ULA downselect is not a condition" of continued funding.
ULA is expected to make a decision between the two engines later this year, but has said Blue Origin is the frontrunner.
Aerojet Rocketdyne declined to disclose further information on the other launch companies they had discussed the new engine with, including whether they are based in the United States.
"This engine will be available for use on the Atlas 5, Vulcan and other launch vehicles currently in development," Drake said.
Aerojet Rocketdyne executives say they plan to test the first AR1 development engine in 2017, followed by additional testing in 2018 and to provide a certified engine in 2019.
For the upcoming year, Aerojet Rocketdyne will use the Air Force funding to work toward a critical design review in the fourth quarter of 2016 and toward the purchase of some long-lead items, Drake said.
After Aerojet Rocketdyne found itself in a competition with Blue Origin to develop a new engine in late 2014, the company increased its internal investment on AR1. For fiscal year 2015, Aerojet Rocketdyne spent nearly $48 million on the program, Drake said. She expects the company to spend a similar amount this year.
The Pentagon's Feb. 29 release said Aerojet Rocketdyne's total investment could reach about $268 million.
Drake said "a small portion" of the $115 million Air Force investment will go toward previously completed work on the engine.

Aerojet обсуждает использование AJ1 еще с двумя компаниями, кроме ULA. В прошлом году Аэроджет потратил на AJ1 почти 48 млн собственных средств и примерно столько же собирается потратить в этом. ВВС на это год выделили 115 млн.

Первый кандидат понятно Орбитал. Второй какой-нибудь Дайнетикс для жидкосного бустера SLS?

[Seerndv]

Какой AR1 на метановом "Вулкане" ?
Не, это только Atlas V
И опять таки, какой Орбитал после покупки РД-181?

[Apollo13]

Seerndv пишет:
Какой AR1 на метановом "Вулкане" ?

Вулкан на AR1 разумеется керосиновый. 

Seerndv пишет:
И опять таки, какой Орбитал после покупки РД-181?

"Вітчизняний виробник". Плюс стоимость пары РД-181 около 30 млн явный перебор. AR1 дешевле при большей тяге.

[Seerndv]

Не-е ...
Читаем же:

The U.S. Air Force announced Feb. 29 it was investing $115 million this year, and with options, as much as $536 million over the next five years, in AR1, a new liquid oxygen- and kerosene-fueled main-stage engine. The contract award is part of an Air Force initiative to end reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 engine that powers ULA's Atlas 5 workhorse rocket.

[Искандер]

Seerndv пишет:
Не-е ...
Читаем же:

The U.S. Air Force announced Feb. 29 it was investing $115 million this year, and with options, as much as $536 million over the next five years, in AR1, a new liquid oxygen- and kerosene-fueled main-stage engine. The contract award is part of an Air Force initiative to end reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 engine that powers ULA's Atlas 5 workhorse rocket.

Вот-вот... Атлас жил, Атлас жив, Атлас будет жить. )))

[Искандер]

Seerndv пишет:

И опять таки, какой Орбитал после покупки РД-181?

Orbital хочет выйти на коммерческий рынок пусковых услуг.
Кроме того, как только появится AR-1 для Атласа, тему российских двигателей закроют в т.ч. и для Орбитал.

[Apollo13]

Seerndv пишет:
Не-е ...
Читаем же:

The U.S. Air Force announced Feb. 29 it was investing $115 million this year, and with options, as much as $536 million over the next five years, in AR1, a new liquid oxygen- and kerosene-fueled main-stage engine. The contract award is part of an Air Force initiative to end reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 engine that powers ULA's Atlas 5 workhorse rocket.

Ага. А ещё РД-180 на Атласе почему-то заменяют мелким раптором и уполовиненным Аресом-1

[Seerndv]

Искандер пишет:
Кроме того, как только появится AR-1 для Атласа, тему российских двигателей закроют в т.ч. и для Орбитал.

- возможно не закроют, а просто "уговорят" с помощью того же Aerojet:

WASHINGTON – Aerojet Rocketdyne has held discussions with at least two unnamed launch providers, in addition to United Launch Alliance, who have an interest in using the AR1  rocket engine the company is developing, Aerojet's president said March 1.

[Искандер]

Seerndv пишет:
- возможно не закроют, а просто "уговорят" с помощью того же Aerojet:

Да уже бы давно закрыли, если бы именно Атлас не был настолько эффективным для военных.
Как только - так сразу.