Aerojet Rocketdyne has completed the verification test of its RS-25 rocket engine, which is designed to power Nasa’s heavy-lift launch vehicle, Space Launch System (SLS).
The trial was carried out on development engine 0525 for 535 seconds, at Nasa’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St Louis in Mississippi.
It is the sixth in a series of seven tests to evaluate the performance of the engine for use on the SLS.
Tests commenced in January on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis, replicating temperature and pressure conditions of a SLS mission.
Previously known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), the RS-25 engine was used aboard the space shuttle during its 30 years of operation.
Aerojet Rocketdyne advanced space and launch programmes business unit vice-president Julie Van Kleeck said: "It is great to see this revered engine back in action and progressing full steam ahead for launch aboard Exploration Mission-1 in 2018.
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By GlobalData"The RS-25 is the world’s most reliable and thoroughly tested large liquid-fuelled rocket engine ever built."
The engine adapts a staged-combustion engine cycle, and exhausts water vapour in the form of steam. It will also have upgraded controllers for efficient communication between the vehicle and the engine.
At its facility in the Stennis Space Center, Aerojet has stored 16 engines for the SLS programme, of these 14 were previously flown aboard the space shuttle.
Aerojet Rocketdyne advanced space and launch programmes programme execution vice-president Jim Paulsen said: "We are conducting engine testing to ensure all 16 flight engines in our inventory meet flightworthiness requirements for SLS."
For its first flight test, the SLS will carry an un-crewed Orion spacecraft, with a lift capacity of 70t. The launch vehicle will be later configured with a lift capability of 130t.
Image: The development engine 0525 was fired for 535 seconds at the Stennis Space Center. Photo: courtesy of Nasa.
