Tag: RS-25
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L3Harris testing brand new RS-25 engines for future Artemis launches
RS-25 prime contractor L3Harris continues to ramp up production of new flight engine hardware at their Los Angeles area facility and final assembly at the Stennis Space Center. NASA certified production restart of the former Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) in mid-2024, with the new engines slated to operate at higher performance levels in four-engine…
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Artemis II stacking and preparations underway even as SLS faces budget cuts
The SLS program continues with preparations for the first human spaceflight to the Moon’s vicinity since 1972. Currently scheduled for April 2026, the mission’s date could be moved up to as early as February if no major issues arise. Meanwhile, the program’s future faces uncertainties as the proposed NASA budget for Fiscal Year 2026 aims…
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RS-25 engine installation into the Artemis II SLS Core Stage begins
Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies Company, is helping install four of its RS-25 liquid-propellant rocket engines in NASA’s second Space Launch System (SLS) core stage at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans. The beginning of installation of the upgraded former Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) in Core Stage-2 at MAF on Sept.…
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RS-25 engine performance “perfect” on Artemis I debut launch
The four RS-25 engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully propelled the Core Stage, Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System, and Orion/Service Module stack into its initial Earth orbit during the system’s debut launch on Nov. 16, 2022. The engines fired for a full duration of nearly eight and a half minutes, inserting the SLS stack into a 30…
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NASA working through wet dress rehearsal, final major pre-flight test for moon rocket
With the arrival of SLS and Orion at Pad-B on March 18, engineers and technicians were busy making final preparations for Sunday’s critical last design verification test: the Wet Dress Rehearsal, or WDR. The test was scrubbed on April 3 before fueling due to an inability to provide positive pressure to the enclosed areas within…
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SLS continuing engine upgrades, tech development to support launcher evolution
The Liquid Engines Office for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Program is planning a busy schedule of test campaigns next year in parallel with efforts to complete preparations for the vehicle’s first launch. Existing Aerojet Rocketdyne hydrogen-oxygen engine designs and hardware will be used for the SLS core and upper stages, but both the space…
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SLS Core Stage nearing home stretch for Green Run tanking test
Final preparations are in work to ready the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage flight article for its first-ever propellant loading in the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Southern Mississippi. Prime contractor Boeing is leading the Green Run test campaign for the central component of the space agency’s new launch…
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Aerojet Rocketdyne getting Shuttle engines ready for SLS Core Stage Green Run support
Four veteran Space Shuttle Main Engines will benchmark the performance of the rookie Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage in the final two critical tests of NASA’s Green Run campaign. After loading the stage with propellant for the first time and demonstrating in a countdown that it can satisfy engine start criteria, the final test…
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Stennis returning as battle to protect SLS maiden launch in 2021 restarts
Hands-on operations with the Space Launch System (SLS) resumed this week, following a lengthy standdown due to the restrictions relating to COVID-19. This included a return to Green Run preparations at the Stennis Space Center, with “limited crews” preparing the Artemis-1 core stage on the B-2 test stand for what will be one of the…
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Aerojet Rocketdyne expands operations to deliver four SLS engines a year
NASA is extending its RS-25 engine production contract with Aerojet Rocketdyne through the rest of the decade, a move that guarantees a steady supply of liquid-fueled engines for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage. This consolidates Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RS-25 engine contracts, ensuring they continue to prepare the 16 RS-25 flight engines inherited from…