RS-25 Engine Test Rumbles Across Mississippi
Aerojet Rocketdyne tested its second flight engine controller unit for its RS-25 engine that will be used on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) today at the Stennis Space Center.
America’s next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle, the SLS, is powered by four RS-25 engines during its 8.5 minute climb to space.
“With today’s test, the RS-25 development and flight engines have experienced 6,848 seconds of SLS test time,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. “As we prepare the engines for America’s deep space rocket, we rely on our proven engine development methodology to ensure that we are building a safe, reliable system. Between the shuttle program and the SLS program, these engines have experienced more than 1.1 million seconds of testing.”
One of the most significant RS-25 engine improvements for SLS is an upgraded engine controller to implement modern electronic designs and processes for greater capabilities and reliability. The controller is critical for executing engine command and control, and tracking the RS-25 engines’ operating conditions, such as the speed of the turbopumps, combustion temperatures, thrust and propellant mixture ratio. NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully tested the first flight controller for the RS-25 in late March.
“With every engine test at Stennis, we continue to accomplish the necessary objectives required to certify the upgraded engine control system for flight – both software and hardware,” added Drake. “Each time I hear the RS-25 rumble, I know our nation’s space program is alive and well. Across the nation, communities have companies, many of them small businesses, right in their backyard preparing the hardware necessary to return humans to deep space and onto Mars.”
Aerojet Rocketdyne is an innovative company delivering solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne can be obtained by visiting our websites at www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com.
