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Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Successfully Completes Hot-Fire Tests on Next Generation of Space Launch Vehicle Engine
Friday, May 09, 2008
CANOGA PARK, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a
United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company, has spent the last several
months successfully completing a series of hot-fire tests on heritage J-2
rocket engine components that are the basis for the new J-2X rocket engine.
The J-2X will power the nation's new Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles
scheduled to send astronauts to the International Space Station and return
them to the moon by 2020. These initial tests of hardware designated Powerpack
1-A, is providing valuable data to engine designers and paving the way for
longer, full power hot-fire tests of actual J-2X engine hardware. It's also a
significant milestone placing the J-2X engine one step closer to Critical
Design Review scheduled for this fall, and placing the Constellation Program
one step closer to reality.
"These powerpack tests provided us with very good data to help as we move
forward in the designing and developing of the J-2X," said John Vilja, PWR's
program manager for the J-2X. "It's truly exciting to witness and be part of
the future as it's unfolding and these successful tests are a tangible piece
of that future."
Powerpack 1-A consisted of proven J-2 and J-2S engine components,
primarily the fuel oxidizer turbopumps, which pump propellants into the engine
combustion chamber to create thrust. The powerpack was test fired for a full
400 seconds at conditions simulating those of a full engine assembly producing
the rated thrust level. The purpose of the tests, which began in December
2007, was to simulate the environments under which the new J-2X components
will operate. A second powerpack series planned for the 2010 timeframe will
test actual J-2X development turbomachinery as an intermediate step to full
engine testing.
The core components which made up the J-2X test article originally
delivered propellants to the Apollo-era J-2 engine that powered the second and
third stages of the Saturn V rockets in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a
preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovation
system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial
applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and
Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic
engines.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service
of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines.
United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company
providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and
building industries.
Bryan Kidder Erin Dick
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
818 586-2213 818 586-4977
bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com erin.dick@pwr.utc.com
SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
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