Aerojet Rocketdyne – Page 14

Orbital ATK beats out Aerojet in ULA booster selection

September 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance has selected Orbital ATK to provide solid rocket boosters for the company’s next-generation Vulcan launcher, and will switch the workhorse Atlas 5 to the new booster supplier by the end of 2018, officials said Tuesday.

Boeing rejects bid to buy ULA as engine race heats up

September 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

Boeing said Wednesday it has turned down an offer from Aerojet Rocketdyne to buy United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that operates the Atlas and Delta rocket fleets.

Decision looms on when to introduce new SLS upper stage

September 8, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA officials are waiting to see if Congress adds funding to the agency’s budget next year to kick-start development of a new four-engine upper stage for the Space Launch System, an upgrade that would allow the mega-rocket to loft heavier cargoes into deep space.

Rocket engine fires up in latest test for behemoth booster

August 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

A hydrogen-fueled rocket engine ignited with a bone-rattling sonic wave Thursday at NASA’s test facility in Southern Mississippi, throttling up to more than a half-million pounds of thrust to verify upgrades to the space shuttle’s main engines can power a humongous new launcher off the planet.

Shuttle-era rocket engine primed for test firing

August 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA plans to fire up a space shuttle-era rocket engine in Mississippi on Thursday for nearly nine minutes to validate upgrades to the powerplant for the Space Launch System, a new mega-rocket under development to boost astronauts on missions to deep space.

New details emerge about electric propulsion experiment aboard X-37B

April 27, 2015 Justin Ray

All systems are now “go” for launch of the Air Force’s X-37B mystery spaceplane on May 20 from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 5 rocket.

Delta 4 rocket evolving to upgraded main engine

March 27, 2015 Justin Ray

When the next Delta 4 rocket flies in July, as well as all future ones to come, the enhanced RS-68A main engine will power the boosters off the launch pad.

Debut flight of rail-guided space launcher slips to October

March 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first flight of a new rail-guided satellite launch system from a military missile range in Hawaii has been delayed until late October due to problems with the rocket’s first stage motor, according to a U.S. Air Force official.

Orbital ATK targets resumption of Antares launches in March 2016

February 20, 2015 Stephen Clark

Space station resupply missions launched from Virginia are set to resume in March 2016, after Orbital ATK integrates newly-built rocket engines into the Ukrainian-made booster stage of the company’s commercial Antares rocket and puts it through an on-pad test firing in January.

NASA kicks off SLS engine testing in Mississippi

January 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

A powerful space shuttle-era rocket engine ignited for more than eight minutes on a test stand in Mississippi last week, kicking off hotfire testing for NASA’s Space Launch System mega-rocket after contamination and computer woes kept the engine silent several months longer than planned.