Engine Under Consideration For Use On NASA' SLS

Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed its final J-2X test series at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

Over a period of three years, Aerojet Rocketdyne teams manufactured, assembled and tested four newly developed engine test articles that achieved an accumulated duration of nearly five hours firing time and demonstrated full power operation for twice its designed life service.

Delivering 30 percent more thrust and five percent more performance than the J-2 Apollo-era engine, upon which it is based, the J-2X is the highest performing human-rated upper-stage engine to be developed in nearly 40 years. "With J-2X, we were able to drive down the time needed to take a new rocket engine to 100 percent power level in testing, from 651 days to just 29, by integrating modern design, analysis and test practices with decades of experience gained on multiple engine development programs," said Aerojet Rocketdyne President Warren M. Boley, Jr. "That kind of knowledge isn't retained anywhere else in the industry and it demonstrates that we know how to design an engine that will work the first time."

The J-2X is a liquid-oxygen/liquid-hydrogen fueled engine that is designed to start at altitude and re-start in space as part of a second or third stage of a large, multi-stage launch vehicle. With its full nozzle extension installed, the J-2X measures more than 15 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter at its base and weighs approximately 5,400 pounds. With a vacuum thrust of 294,000 lbs., the engine is designed to help loft heavy payloads--such as habitats, landers and in-space modules--beyond low-Earth orbit.

"We had to modernize the J-2 engine to increase its power level and performance, so we had a good challenge on our hands," said Aerojet Rocketdyne's J-2X Director and Program Manager, Walt Janowski. "No part of this engine went untouched. We looked closely at each part to make sure it met modern standards and human-rated requirements."

The RS-25 engines feature a modernized engine controller, successfully demonstrated on J-2X, for controlling start and shutdown valve sequencing and health monitoring control
functions.

The J-2X engine is one of several options being considered to power the upper stage of NASA's future 130-metric-ton Space Launch System (SLS).

(NASA image from file)

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