Test helps Aerojet Rocketdyne bid for big new NASA contractSacramento Business Journal
Mark AndersonStaff Writer- Jan 13, 2015, 5:13am PST
The RS-25 engine fires up for a 500-second test Friday at NASA's Stennis Space Center. NASAA successful test last week is good news for Aerojet Rocketdyne, which hopes to win a long and lucrative contract from NASA to build powerful engines for missions to Mars and deep space.
The Rancho Cordova-based company already is working on smaller rockets for the new Orion spacecraft's crew capsule. Later this year, it will be negotiating with NASA to begin building much bigger engines for the second stage of the craft's booster.
The RS-25 engines already have a long history. They were designed to serve as the space shuttle's main engine, and have a 30-year track record. The major difference this time: As part of the Orion launch system they won't come back with the craft.
That's important because NASA has just 16 of these engines in stock — so the space agency is discussing restarting the production line, said Kim Henry, spokeswoman with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
Aerojet officials say they have no estimate for the potential value of the possible contract. But a successful test on Friday of a controller for the rocket puts the company in a good position. Conducted Friday at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the test was a simulated launch of a new computer control for the engine. There will be seven more tests of the controls this year, and actual launches could occur in 2018.
NASA is paying Aerojet to develop and test new controls to use the motors in the new space launch system.
"This was an amazing first step toward our ability to send humans into deep space aboard America's next heavy-lift rocket," Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet Rocketdyne's vice president of Advanced Space and Launch Programs, said in a news release. "We put the engine and its test facility to the task, demonstrating their ability to function properly under various conditions, and both performed very well."
The liquid-fuel RS-25 rocket was developed by Rocketdyne, which Aerojet acquired in 2013. The original production line was in Canoga Park. That is no longer an Aerojet Rocketdyne facility.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is a subsidiary of GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY), which is the region's largest publicly traded company.
Aerojet Rocketdyne also is working on the development of its AR1 motor, which is another launch motor that can be used to send military, national security and Air Force payloads into orbit.
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