Latest news with #AerojetRocketdyne
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
If You Thought Your Life Was a Mess, Spare a Thought for Boeing's Starliner
Even after pouring $2 billion into its much-maligned Starliner spacecraft, NASA and Boeing remain committed to getting back off the ground. As Ars Technica reports, the head of NASA's commercial crew program, Steve Stich, revealed last week that Boeing and its propulsion supplier, Aerojet Rocketdyne, are making considerable changes to the astronaut shuttle following a disastrous first crewed mission to the International Space Station last year. The spacecraft experienced several "in-flight anomalies," forcing NASA to have it return to the Earth without NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were left stranded on board the International Space Station for nine long months as a result. Boeing also faces intense competition. Starliner is being developed under the same NASA program as SpaceX's far more successful Crew Dragon capsule, which has sent 11 crews to the ISS over the last five years. And even with the anticipated retirement of the aging orbital lab, which is set to begin in 2030, NASA remains steadfast to get Starliner off the ground, something that's not expected to happen until 2026, per Stich. That's a whopping 11 years after Boeing officials originally expected the spacecraft to become operational. "We really are working toward a flight as soon as early next year with Starliner, and then ultimately, our goal is to get into crew rotation flights with Starliner," Stich told reporters. "And those would start no earlier than the second crew rotation slot at the end of next year." If all of this feels far too little, far too late, you're not alone. Even with yet another massive delay, Boeing is looking to fly only cargo on board its Starliner spacecraft, meaning that the first successful crewed trip into orbit could be even further out. The project appeared disastrous enough for NASA and Boeing to get close to dumping Starliner altogether last year. However, Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, breathed new life into the cursed spacecraft, claiming in April that it would be "pretty straightforward" to fix Starliner's thruster issues. Despite all its successful trips to the ISS, Musk announced last month that SpaceX would "immediately" begin shutting down its Dragon spacecraft, a kneejerk comment he made shortly after blowing up his relationship with president Donald Trump in spectacular fashion. However, Musk reversed course mere hours later, agreeing to "cool off" and saying that "we won't decommission Dragon." Nonetheless, the billionaire's bromance with Trump continues to devolve into bitter fighting; nobody knows whether Musk will continue to help NASA man the aging space station. Musk has also called on the space agency to destroy the ISS as soon as possible, erroneously arguing that "it has served its purpose." Where all that drama leaves Starliner, which has turned into a major headache for NASA, remains to be seen. The Trump administration has already signaled that it's looking to cut back the ISS' budget considerably, making the capsule an extremely expensive and in some ways already obsolete afterthought. More on Starliner: Boeing's Starliner Disaster Was Even Worse Than We Thought, Astronaut Reveals Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
L3Harris plans further Arkansas expansion for rocket motor production
By Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) -L3Harris Technologies plans to expand the size of its Arkansas solid rocket motor production facilities, it said on Thursday, as it seeks a sixfold production increase for large solid rocket motors to meet soaring demand. The Russia-Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East have seen demand for arms and military equipment balloon, with militaries around the world aiming to replenish stockpiles, benefiting contractors such as L3Harris. The Arkansas expansion is the company's latest effort to modernize its capabilities following its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and as the U.S. government attempts to develop an expanded homeland missile defense shield dubbed Golden Dome. The nearly $500 million investment would develop an additional 110 acres, adding more than 20 buildings and 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space to the company's existing 2,000-acre site in Camden. "Large solid rocket motors are essential to our nation's missile and strategic defense," said L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik in a statement. "As the Trusted Disruptor, we are strengthening our ability to produce these systems rapidly and at scale, which is essential for current demand and the Golden Dome missile defense shield." Large solid rocket motors are used in missile defense systems, interceptors, and hypersonic vehicles. In February, L3Harris began building four solid rocket motor production facilities for smaller tactical weapons at its Camden site in Arkansas. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
L3Harris plans further Arkansas expansion for rocket motor production
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - L3Harris Technologies (LHX.N), opens new tab plans to expand the size of its Arkansas solid rocket motor production facilities, it said on Thursday, as it seeks a sixfold production increase for large solid rocket motors to meet soaring demand. The Russia-Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East have seen demand for arms and military equipment balloon, with militaries around the world aiming to replenish stockpiles, benefiting contractors such as L3Harris. The Arkansas expansion is the company's latest effort to modernize its capabilities following its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and as the U.S. government attempts to develop an expanded homeland missile defense shield dubbed Golden Dome. The nearly $500 million investment would develop an additional 110 acres, adding more than 20 buildings and 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space to the company's existing 2,000-acre site in Camden. "Large solid rocket motors are essential to our nation's missile and strategic defense," said L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik in a statement. "As the Trusted Disruptor, we are strengthening our ability to produce these systems rapidly and at scale, which is essential for current demand and the Golden Dome missile defense shield." Large solid rocket motors are used in missile defense systems, interceptors, and hypersonic vehicles. In February, L3Harris began building four solid rocket motor production facilities for smaller tactical weapons at its Camden site in Arkansas.
Gizmodo
02-07-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Rocket Engines That Flew 22 Space Shuttle Missions Are Ready for NASA's Next Moon Mission
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is ready to fly with its four shuttle-era engines. The rocket, outfitted with the RS-25 engines, recently passed a critical milestone that put the integrated system to the test, using a decades-old design on a new launch vehicle. NASA teams successfully completed the RS-25 engine checkout tests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ensuring seamless communication between the SLS core stage and its engines ahead of the first crewed mission to the lunar environment in more than 50 years. Three of the four engines being used for the upcoming Artemis 2 mission have already flown a combined 22 missions as part of NASA's iconic Shuttle program, which ran from 1981 to 2011, while one engine will be making its launch debut. 'I learned during the Space Shuttle program to listen to the engines,' Bill Muddle, RS-25 field engineer, said in a statement. 'The engines talk to you, and you have to listen and understand what they are telling you to ensure they operate properly. They will tell you if they are in ill health and need to be tweaked or if a component is having an issue and needs to be replaced. Based on the [Program Specific Engineering Test], the engines all indicated they were healthy and ready for the pad.' The RS-25 engines were built by L3 Harris Technologies' Aerojet Rocketdyne division for the shuttle project, and NASA has a total of four contracts with the company. SLS Block 1, which launched the Artemis 1 mission in November 2022 and is meant to launch Artemis 2 and 3, is powered by four RS-25 engines in its core stage, along with two solid rocket boosters. Three of the four engines that are currently being used to power SLS for Artemis 2 were part of significant milestones in the Space Shuttle program. Engine 2047 flew on the final shuttle mission on July 21, 2011, while engine 2059 flew on the program's penultimate flight. Engine 2061 was part of the mission that assisted the assembly of the International Space Station. Engine 2062, on the other hand, is a newbie, ready to make its inaugural flight. 'Every day I come to work knowing that the RS-25 field engineering team has to take care of these engines, because we know we have humans riding in Orion on top of this vehicle and these engines have to perform flawlessly,' Muddle said. 'The lives of our astronauts are in the RS-25 team's hands for the eight and a half minutes those engines are firing during launch.' The 5.75-million-pound SLS uses components from NASA's Space Shuttle program, including solid rocket boosters built by Northrop Grumman, as a way to improve its affordability. NASA's original thought process, however, did not pan out too well. The launch vehicle has already gone $6 billion over budget, with the projected cost of each SLS rocket being $144 million more than anticipated. That would increase the overall cost of a single Artemis launch to at least $4.2 billion, according to a report released in 2024 by the office of NASA's inspector general. The giant Moon rocket faces uncertainty under the current administration's proposed budget, which laid out a plan to phase out SLS and its Orion capsule and replace them with commercial substitutes. This week, however, the Senate approved a budget reconciliation bill that would allocate an additional $6 billion to Artemis' current mission architecture. If signed into law, the legislation may just give SLS, and its shuttle-era engines, a fighting chance.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
With SLS rocket future uncertain, L3Harris still cranking out engines
While NASA's Artemis program may ultimately abandon the Space Launch System rocket, for now, Melbourne-based L3Harris is pushing forward with the manufacture of the powerful rocket's core stage engines. The SLS core stage gets 2 million pounds of thrust from four RS-25 engines that for the first four Artemis missions are engines from the Space Shuttle Program refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which L3Harris acquired in 2023. The first engine produced for the fifth mission, which was built from scratch after the depletion of the space shuttle supply, is now in NASA's hands. On Friday, the engine, dubbed No. 20001, underwent an 8 1/2-minute hot fire on a test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. That duration equals the time the engine would burn on launch if and when Artemis V gets off the ground. The engine was also cranked up to 111% power. 'This successful acceptance test shows that we've been able to replicate the RS-25's performance and reliability, while incorporating modern manufacturing techniques and upgraded components such as the main combustion chamber, nozzle and pogo accumulator assembly,' said Kristin Houston, president of the company's space propulsion and power systems division. So far NASA has flown the SLS once on the Artemis I mission in 2022. The four RS-25 engines powered the core stage that paired with two solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman, combined to create 8.8 million pounds of thrust on liftoff. It remains the most powerful rocket ever to make it to orbit. SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy nearly doubles that thrust, but has only performed suborbital test launches so far. Artemis II, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, is set to launch atop SLS on its second flight no later than April 2026 on a mission to fly around, but not land on, the moon. A lunar landing mission is supposed to come with Artemis III, slated to fly by summer 2027, but it still needs a working version of Starship to act as the human landing system. Artemis IV and V are on the roadmap for 2028 and 2029, but the use of SLS was targeted for elimination in President Trump's proposed NASA budget for fiscal year 2026. The budget seeks to switch to a commercial provider to achieve the Artemis program goals of a sustained lunar presence and push on to send the first humans to Mars. Sen. Ted Cruz, though, countered the budget proposal with a call to restore funding at least through Artemis V, including saving the Gateway lunar space station that was also targeted for demise by the Trump budget proposal. So while the future of Artemis may shift, L3Harris will continue to build engines for which it has contracts. Manufacturing of the RS-25s happens in California. The newly manufactured engines cost 30% less than those produced and refurbished for the shuttle program, according to L3Harris, using updated processes such as 3D printing. A test version of the new engine design went through a 12-step certification series completed last year to pave the way for operational engine production. NASA has already ordered up to 24 of the new engines on top of the 16 refurbished shuttle-era engines that would support flights through the ninth Artemis. The order totals $3.5 billion, which is about $145 million per engine. Each engine will get tested at NASA's Stennis before it gets sent to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where the core stage is manufactured by Boeing. Starting with Artemis III, the core stage parts will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center for final assembly. 'The second Artemis V engine is slated to hot-fire later this year, with the other two engines set to be hot-fired next year,' said an L3Harris spokesperson. L3Harris also produces the single RL-10 engines used on both the upper stages of Artemis I-III, but also the proposed more powerful European Upper Stage, which would use four RL-10 engines for Artemis IV and beyond. Those engines are manufactured at the company's West Palm Beach facilities, which have been building and testing rocket engines for more than 60 years. 'Our propulsion technology is key to ensuring the United States leads in lunar exploration, creates a sustained presence on the moon and does not cede this strategic frontier to other nations,' Houston said.
