Aerojet Rocketdyne Successfully Completes Space Launch System Rocket Engine Test Series | Your money

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Mississippi, Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Testing of today’s RS-25 engine at NASA’s Stennis Space Center has completed the Retrofit-2 series of tests, which validated modernized components and less expensive for the new RS-25 engines intended for use on the heavy rocket space launch system (SLS).

The RS-25 Development Test Engine # 0528 completed a full 500 second firing and reached 109% of the primary engine power rating of the originally designed space shuttle during the seventh and final series of tests Retrofit-2. The first test of this series took place on January 28; each test in the series lasted between 500 and 650 seconds, which meets or exceeds the thrust profile of the engine during an actual launch.

“The components shown in the Retrofit-2 test series take advantage of the latest advances in design, materials and manufacturing technology to dramatically reduce the cost of the RS-25 engines we build today,” said Eileen P. Drake, CEO of Aerojet Rocketdyne. “Our new RS-25 engines will begin flying on the fifth flight of the SLS rocket and will incorporate the newly designed components that we validated during this important series of tests.”

The SLS center stage is powered by four RS-25 engines generating a combined thrust of two million pounds. The first four vehicle missions will use updated versions of the remaining engines from NASA’s space shuttle program. Aerojet Rocketdyne is currently under contract to deliver 24 newly manufactured versions engines.

The components validated in the Retrofit-2 Series include a main combustion chamber assembled using a high-tech metal bonding technique called Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP); an additively manufactured Pogo accumulator assembly; a pair of high pressure fuel and oxidizer turbopumps constructed from simplified designs using modern techniques; as well as 3D printed valves and redesigned actuators.

The components in today’s test will contribute to an expected 30% reduction in the cost of the RS-25 engine compared to versions manufactured during the Space Shuttle program. An additional development engine, # 0525, will further validate technological advances in design, materials and manufacturing in a series of Retrofit-3 tests starting later this year.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne: Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD), is a global aerospace and defense company providing propulsion systems and power to space, missile and strategic defense systems, and tactical zone systems, in support of national and international customers. For more information visit www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com. Follow Aerojet Rocketdyne and CEO Eileen Drake on Twitter at @AerojetRdyne and @DrakeEileen.

Media contacts: Mary Engola, Aerojet Rocketdyne, 571-289-1371 [email protected] Todd McConnell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, 561-882-5395 [email protected]

Copyright 2021 GlobeNewswire, Inc.