Upgraded Rocket Motors To Power Delta IV Heavy Lift
Booster
United Launch Alliance announced
Thursday the successful first hot-firing of the new Pratt &
Whitney Rocketdyne RS-68A engine that will be used to power a
future upgraded version of the Delta IV Heavy Lift launch vehicle.
The hot-fire test was conducted 3:16 pm CDT, at NASA's John C.
Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Stennis is the home of
America's largest rocket engine test facility.
The RS-68A engine, an upgraded version of the current RS-68
liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine used on Delta IV, will allow
the Delta IV Heavy vehicle to boost heavier payloads into orbit.
Currently, the RS-68 engine can deliver more than 660,000 pounds of
sea level thrust and the upgraded RS-68A will increase this to more
than 700,000 pounds. The RS-68A also improves on the specific
impulse, or fuel efficiency, of the RS-68.
The Delta IV Heavy is comprised of three Delta IV core boosters.
With the new RS-68A engines, the Delta IV Heavy's thrust will
increase by more than 100,000 pounds.
The hot-fire test lasted the full planned duration of
approximately 40 seconds and the test team will spend the next
several days evaluating data to characterize engine performance and
to clear the engine for future tests. This initial test was on the
first of three engines that will be used during an extensive engine
test program. The test program will continue during the next twelve
months, leading to certification of the new engine in mid-2010 and
initial launch capability of the upgraded Delta IV Heavy in early
2011.
"We congratulate Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and the entire
RS-68A engine team for this successful first step in making the
most powerful liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine in the world
even more capable," said Jim Sponnick, ULA Vice President, Delta
Product Line. "The RS-68A upgrade is a critical element in
upgrading the Delta IV Heavy allowing ULA to meet evolving needs of
our government customers with even greater reliability and
performance than achieved in the past, while keeping mission
success our top priority."
ULA program management, engineering, test and mission support
functions are headquartered in Denver, CO. Manufacturing, assembly
and integration operations are located in Decatur, AL, Harlingen,
TX, San Diego, CA, and Denver, CO. Launch operations are located at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, and Vandenberg Air Force
Base, CA.