Новости Aerojet Rocketdyne

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 8 мин. назад

If it was an early shutdown, remember: this was a test to root out issues and problems as the RS-25 production restart begins. @NASA tests extensively - as does @SpaceX, @ulalaunch, @blueorigin, @northropgrumman - to ensure engine issues don't present in flight.

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 12 мин. назад

NASA admin talking about this being 500 seconds (and it was supposed to be full duration).....pretty sure it was only about five minutes and shutdown early, we'll check.

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Stennis Space Center‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAStennis 15 мин. назад

Today's RS-25 Engine Test @ NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center has concluded with a duration of 319 seconds. #SLSFiredUp

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SLS RS-25 Engine Test, 14 August 2018

SciNews

Опубликовано: 14 авг. 2018 г.

NASA conducted a new test of a flight controller installed on the Aerojet Rocketdyne developmental RS-25 rocket engine No. 0525. The 319 seconds hotfire test was conducted on the A-1 Test Stand at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, on 14 August 2018, at 19:41 UTC (14:41 CDT, 15:41 EDT). NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built, will be powered by four RS-25 engines firing simultaneously.

(6:35)

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Eileen Drake‏ @DrakeEileen 13 мин. назад

Awesome to see today at @NASAStennis how the incredible professionalism of @AerojetRdyne's people translates to the great power of our #RS25 engine on the test stand.

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NASA Stennis Live Stream

NASA Stennis

Трансляция началась 1 час назад

(21:25)

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https://spacenews.com/nasa-says-rs-25-engine-test-a-success-despite-ending-early/

NASA says RS-25 engine test a success despite ending early
by Jeff Foust — August 15, 2018


An RS-25 engine performs a static-fire test at NASA's Stennis Space Center Aug. 14. NASA said the test was a success despite ending three minutes early because of a "facility issue." Credit: NASA Stennis

WASHINGTON — NASA says an Aug. 14 test of an engine for the Space Launch System was a success despite an unspecified "facility issue" that caused the test to end early.

The test of the RS-25 engine on the A-1 stand at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was the first in a new series of static-fire tests of the shuttle-era engine that will be used in the core stage of the SLS. The engine, a developmental unit designated No. 0525, tested a flight controller unit that will be used on flight models of the engine as well as new manufacturing techniques intended to reduce the cost of future engines.

NASA Stennis announced prior to the test that the test would run for eight minutes and 20 seconds. However, in a tweet after the test, Stennis said the test ended after five minutes and 19 seconds.

Спойлер

Stennis Space Center‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAStennis 14 авг.

Today's RS-25 Engine Test @ NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center is now targeting a 2:38 p.m. (CDT) start for a scheduled duration of 500 seconds #SLSFiredUp

Stennis Space Center‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAStennis 14 авг.

Today's RS-25 Engine Test @ NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center has concluded with a duration of 319 seconds. #SLSFiredUp

[свернуть]

An Aug. 15 statement fr om Stennis about the test made no mention of the planned or actual duration of the test. "All test objectives were met during the hot fire," the center's statement noted.

Stennis spokesperson Valerie Buckingham confirmed Aug. 15 that the test was cut short. "The test ended early due to a facility issue, but all test objectives were met," she said in an emailed response to a SpaceNews inquiry. She later said she didn't know the details about the problem, other than it did not damage the engine itself.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, which manufactures the RS-25, also said the test ended early because of a facility problem, but deferred questions on the issue to NASA Stennis. The company said in a statement that the engine performed as expected.

Among the objectives of the test was to test a new manufacturing approach called hot isostatic pressing for the engine's main combustion chamber that the company says "saves considerable time and money" over conventional techniques. "Initial test data indicates the chamber performed flawlessly during the 319-second test," Aerojet Rocketdyne said.

Спойлер

That technique is being evaluated for use on future versions of the RS-25. The first four SLS missions will use existing engines, originally manufactured for the space shuttle and updated for SLS. Later SLS launches will require new RS-25 engines.

"As we develop a new generation of RS-25 engines, ensuring they continue to remain reliable while reducing costs is a major focus at Aerojet Rocketdyne," said Eileen Drake, chief executive and president of the company. "That's why we're working hard to drive down costs on the RS-25 by incorporating the most modern and efficient manufacturing techniques."

[свернуть]

NASA is planning eight more tests using the same developmental RS-25 engine that will go through early 2019. Later in 2019, another test stand at Stennis will host a "green run" static-fire test of the first SLS core stage, where its four RS-25 engines will fire simultaneously.

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Among those attending the test was NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, making his first visit to Stennis since becoming administrator. The visit was part of a series of appearances at NASA facilities in the region that included the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Aug. 13 and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 15.

In a webcast of the launch, Bridenstine didn't appear to be aware that the test had been cut short. "I've seen a lot of launches as a member of Congress before and now as NASA administrator, but the rockets always leave," he said. "In this particular case, the rocket stayed, and it stayed for 500 seconds of just a heart-pounding thrust."

He reiterated the importance of the SLS in carrying out human missions to the moon and beyond despite the vehicle's years of delays. "This is our opportunity to follow through on the president's Space Policy Directive 1, which says that we're going to the moon," he said, saying the SLS fits into a "sustainable" architecture wh ere "we want every piece of this architecture to ultimately be reusable." The SLS is currently an expendable vehicle, including the original shuttle-era RS-25 engines that were designed for reuse.

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[Apollo13]

https://spacenews.com/with-debt-down-and-cash-up-aerojet-rocketdyne-hunting-for-acquisitions/

With debt down and cash up, Aerojet Rocketdyne hunting for acquisitions

by Caleb Henry — September 19, 2018


Eileen Drake, president and CEO of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc, speaking at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2016. Credit: SpaceNews/Tom Kimmell



WASHINGTON — Space propulsion and defense company Aerojet Rocketdyne is looking for other companies or product lines to buy as its financial situation improves.
"Our No. 1 priority for capital deployment is [mergers and acquisitions]," Eileen Drake, the company's CEO, said during G.research's Aerospace and Defense Conference Sept. 13, adding that the right opportunities are proving hard to come by.  
"It doesn't necessarily mean buying a company," she said. "It could be buying a product line. It could be buying a portion of a business that fits with us. We want to make sure that it's strategic, that it doesn't distract the team from delivering on the remainder of our competitive improvement program."
Aerojet started its competitive improvement program in 2015 as a response to market pressure from rising new entrants SpaceX and Blue Origin, both of which build their own engines. The goal of the program, first set at $145 million in annual cost reduction by 2019, was raised last year to $230 million in annual savings. Drake said Aerojet Rocketdyne should reach that mark by 2021.
At the same time, Aerojet slashed its debt load from $464.4 million in May 2015 to $102.2 million this June. Drake said Aerojet had about $560 million in cash at the end of June when the company disclosed its quarterly financial results. Aerojet reported a profit of $34.8 million on $467.2 million in revenue during the months of April, May and June.
Drake described last year's $15 million purchase of missile maker Coleman Aerospace from L3 as emblematic of the type of acquisition it would like to make.
"We continue to look for opportunities like that," she said.
Aerojet is also seeking to monetize some 5,600 acres of land, the bulk of which is in Sacramento, California, where the company announced the elimination or relocation of 1,100 jobs last year. Drake declined to estimate how much the land is worth.
"It's all [predicated] on the local economy for jobs, for the real estate, the appetite for the builders, for the developers — we consistently work with them on opportunities," she said.
Drake said it was ultimately a good thing that SpaceX and Blue Origine put pressure on Aerojet to be more competitive. While Aerojet does more than space launch — satellite propulsion and missile defense are also business areas — the impact of competition "made us all look at how we can be better and take cost out of our products," she said.
Aerojet this year won contracts to provide its RL10 upper stage engine to Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems for its future OmegA rocket and to United Launch Alliance (ULA) for its future Vulcan rocket. The company remains in competition with Blue Origin to provide Vulcan's first stage engine.
Aerojet is pitching the AR1, a liquid-oxygen and kerosene-fueled engine, while Blue Origin is offering the BE-4, a liquid-oxygen and methane-fueled engine.
"United Launch Alliance continues to say that this is a competition," Drake said. "They have also said that Blue Origin is probably primary. We might be secondary and that's based on a couple of things when it comes to funding, but we feel strong about the AR1."
Drake said Aerojet convinced the U.S. Air Force to fund five-sixths of the cost of AR1 development, up from two-thirds in part because of delays with ULA's downselect.
"The downselect was supposed to happen a year or so ago between us and Blue, and that continues to slip. We still don't have a date for when downselect will be," she said.
If ULA doesn't choose the AR1, other launch vehicles could make use of the engine, she said.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno has for several months described the company's decision as coming "soon." In a Sept. 10 interview with SpaceNews at World Satellite Business Week in Paris, he described the decision as coming "very, very soon."

[Not]

Судя по всем АR-1 не жилец.

The latest financial release from aerospace manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne reveals that the company spent none of its own money on development of the AR1 rocket engine this spring. Moreover, the quarterly 10-Q filing that covers financial data through June 30, 2018 indicates that Aerojet may permanently stop funding the engine with its own money altogether—a sign the company has no immediate customers.

[axxenm]

Not пишет:
Судя по всем АR-1 не жилец.

The latest financial release from aerospace manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne reveals that the company spent none of its own money on development of the AR1 rocket engine this spring. Moreover, the quarterly 10-Q filing that covers financial data through June 30, 2018 indicates that Aerojet may permanently stop funding the engine with its own money altogether—a sign the company has no immediate customers.

Так они с самого начала канючили что " дайте денег - не хотим на свои проектировать "
Сначала договорились с вояками на треть самофинансирования,
к февралю 2018 уговорили уменьшить до 1/6.
И вот, судя по вашей новости , дошли до победного конца - свели самофинансирование к нулю.
Это отнюдь не говорит что AR-1 не жилец, а лишь о том что они не верят ,что смогут его кому-нибудь впендюрить кроме вояк.

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Test Series on New RS-25 Rocket Engine Components Moving Forward

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 25 сент. 2018 г.

The third in a series of RS-25 rocket engine hot fire tests for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Program was conducted September 25 at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The test was another certification of an RS-25 flight controller that helps the engine communicate with the SLS rocket. It also marked the seventh test of a 3D-printed pogo accumulator assembly that helps prevent the rocket from becoming unstable in flight and the third test of a main combustion chamber fabricated using a new money- and time-saving bonding technique.

(8:48 )

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NASA Continues Fall Series of RS-25 Engine Tests

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 11 окт. 2018 г.

A team of operators at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi will conduct a 500-second RS-25 hot fire on the A-1 Test Stand on Oct. 11, marking the fourth in a series that will extend into 2019. Once again, the hot fire features an acceptance test of an RS-25 engine controller for use on a future flight of NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

(8:48)

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NASA Ushers in Autumn with Powerful RS-25 Engine Test for SLS

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 15 нояб. 2018 г.

On Nov. 15, a team of operators at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi conducted a full-duration, 650-second RS-25 test on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis, the sixth hot fire in an engine test series that began in mid-August. The test marked an acceptance hot fire of another RS-25 engine controller for use on a future flight of NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. In a test for NASA's SLS, operators fired development engine No. 0525 to a 113 percent thrust level for 60 seconds during the test. The new flight controller is the central component of the modification and serves as the RS-25 "brain," helping the engine communicate with the rocket and controlling engine operation and internal health diagnostics.

(11:19)

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Orion Launch Abort System Jettison Motor hot fire test

NASA Langley Research Center

Опубликовано: 26 нояб. 2018 г.

A successful hot fire test of the Orion Launch Abort System Jettison Motor was conducted at Redstone Test Facility.

(0:35)

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Chris B - NSF @NASASpaceflight · 7 ч

STATIC FIRE! RS-25 0525 fires up at Stennis.

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Chris B - NSF @NASASpaceflight · 7 ч

RS-25 Test Complete! Looked like a good test of Development Engine 0525 per the SLS test series.

ARTICLE:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/02/nasa-stennis-restart-rs-25-testing-abort/...
- By Philip Sloss.

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NASA Stennis Live Stream

NASA Stennis

Трансляция началась 8 часов назад

(19:41)

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NASA Marks RS-25 Testing Milestone for New Space Launch System

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 28 февр. 2019 г.

On Feb. 28, NASA marked yet another milestone in preparations for the first mission of its new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, conducting an RS-25 engine test at its highest power level. The 510-second test was conducted on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center. For the fourth time, NASA powered the engine to 113 percent of its original thrust design, this time for more than 430 seconds, about four times longer than any previous hot fire at that thrust level. This test concluded a series of nine tests that began last August, using RS-25 developmental engine No. 0525, and featured an RS-25 flight engine controller, or "brain" of the engine, that will be used on an SLS mission.

(9:00)

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SLS RS-25 Engine Test, 4 April 2019

SciNews

Опубликовано: 4 апр. 2019 г.

An Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 rocket engine was tested on the A-1 Test Stand at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, on 4 April 2019, at 19:35 UTC (14:35 CDT, 15:35 EDT). The test had a duration of 500 seconds.NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) will be powered by four RS-25 engines firing simultaneously.

Credit: NASA

(9:15)

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NASA Achieves Testing Milestone with Engines for Initial SLS Missions

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 4 апр. 2019 г.

NASA conducted a hot fire test of RS-25 flight engine No. 2062 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on April 4, with a full-duration of 500 seconds. The hot fire caps more than four years of testing for engines that will help power the first four missions of NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. All 16 former space shuttle main engines that will help launch the first four SLS missions have undergone acceptance testing and have completed developmental and acceptance testing for new controllers to be used by the engines. It also concludes a 51-month test series that demonstrated RS-25 engines can perform at the higher power level needed to launch the super heavy-lift SLS rocket.

(8:50)

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-commits-to-future-artemis-missions-with-more-sls-rocket-engines

May 1, 2020
RELEASE 20-050

NASA Commits to Future Artemis Missions with More SLS Rocket Engines


NASA has awarded a contract to Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, to manufacture 18 additional Space Launch System (SLS) RS-25 rocket engines to support Artemis missions to the Moon. The four RS-25 engines, shown here, are attached to the SLS core stage that will send the Artemis I mission to the Moon. Currently, the stage is undergoing a series of Green Run tests in a test stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The additional engines will support future SLS flights to deep space.
Credits: NASA/Jude Guidry

NASA has awarded a contract to Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, to manufacture 18 additional Space Launch System (SLS) RS-25 rocket engines to support Artemis missions to the Moon.

The follow-on contract to produce 18 engines is valued at $1.79 billion. This includes labor to build and test the engines, produce tooling and support SLS flights powered by the engines. This modifies the initial contract awarded in November 2015 to recertify and produce six new RS-25 engines and brings the total contract value to almost $3.5 billion with a period of performance through Sept. 30, 2029, and a total of 24 engines to support as many as six additional SLS flights.

"This contract allows NASA to work with Aerojet Rocketdyne to build the rocket engines needed for future missions," said John Honeycutt, the SLS program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "The same reliable engines that launched more than 100 space shuttle missions have been modified to be even more powerful to launch the next astronauts who will set foot on the lunar surface during the Artemis missions."

Each SLS rocket uses four RS-25 engines, providing a total of 2 million pounds of thrust to send SLS to space. The SLS rocket leverages the assets, capabilities, and experience of NASA's Space Shuttle Program, using 16 existing RS-25 shuttle engines for the first four SLS missions. These engines were updated with new controllers – the brains that control the engine – and upgraded and tested to fly at the higher performance level necessary to launch the SLS, which is much larger and more powerful than the shuttle.

The rocket engines are mounted at the base of the 212-foot-tall core stage, which holds more than 700,000 gallons of propellant and provides the flight computers that control the rocket's flight. The engines for the Artemis I mission to the Moon have already been assembled as part of the core stage, which is undergoing Green Run testing.

"We've already begun production on the first six new RS-25 engines," said Johnny Heflin, the SLS engines manager. "Aerojet Rocketdyne has restarted the production lines, established a supplier base and is building engines using advanced techniques that reduce both the cost and time for manufacturing each engine."

The engines are built at Aerojet Rocketdyne's factory in Canoga Park, California. Working with NASA, Aerojet has implemented a plan to reduce the cost of the engines by as much as 30% by using more advanced manufacturing techniques to modify some of the rocket components. Some of these modified components have already been tested during engine tests that replicate the conditions of flight.The new digital controllers are built by Honeywell Aerospace in Clearwater, Florida,  a major subcontractor to Aerojet Rocketdyne.

The SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, Gateway and Human Landing System are part of NASA's backbone for deep space exploration. Work is well underway on both the Artemis I and II rockets. The Artemis I core stage and its RS-25 engines are in the B-2 test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Here, the stage is undergoing Green Run testing, an integrated test of the entire new stage that culminates with the firing of all four RS-25 engines. Upon completion of the test, NASA's Pegasus barge will take the core stage to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be integrated with other parts of the rocket and Orion for Artemis I.

The Artemis program is the next step in human space exploration. It's part of America's broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which astronauts will explore the Moon and experience gained there to enable humanity's next giant leap, sending humans to Mars.

-end-

Last Updated: May 1, 2020
Editor: Sean Potter