Over 200 Companies At Work On NextGen Booster

The Ares I rocket, America's next flagship in space, is now in development by NASA and its industry partners, and soon will carry human explorers and new missions of discovery to the moon and beyond.

Planning and building the Ares I, the first launch vehicle in NASA's next-generation Constellation Program fleet, is truly a national effort, supported by more than 200 companies in 32 states and Puerto Rico -- including Florida firms Honeywell International Inc. in Clearwater; Parker Hannifin Corp. in Jacksonville; Tara Technologies Corp. in Daytona Beach; and The Bernd Group Inc. in Dunedin. All four companies support NASA's Ares I Upper Stage Engine Project.

Florida-based Ares I contracts have a combined value of more than $1.4 million.

"Like these Florida companies, contributors across the nation are providing critical engineering expertise, hardware and materials fabrication and testing and a wide spectrum of support services," said Steve Cook, manager of Ares Projects at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "Their work ensures that NASA will, in the next decade, successfully fly the Ares I rocket to orbit to support the International Space Station and send Americans back to the moon, preparing the way for rewarding new journeys of discovery throughout the solar system."

The 84-foot-long Ares I upper stage is propelled by a J-2X main engine fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The J-2X is an evolved variation of two historic predecessors: the powerful J-2 engine that propelled the Apollo-era Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, and the J-2S, a simplified version of the J-2 developed and tested in the early 1970s but never flown.

Approximately 133 seconds and 36 miles into flight, after the Ares I first stage expends its propellant, the first stage is jettisoned. The J-2X ignites, burning for approximately 465 seconds to consume more than 302,200 pounds of propellant as it pushes Ares I to an altitude of roughly 83 miles. The Orion crew exploration vehicle then separates from the upper stage, and its own engine fires to insert the spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The upper stage reenters Earth's atmosphere and splashes down in the Indian Ocean.

NASA's Constellation Program fleet -- now more than four years into development -- includes the Ares I, the Ares V heavy cargo launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft. The Ares V will serve as NASA’s primary vessel for safe, reliable delivery of large-scale hardware to space, including the Altair lunar lander, also now in development, and supplies needed to establish a sustained human presence on the moon. The Orion will safely ferry a crew of four to six astronauts to a variety of destinations in space.

The first Ares I test flight, called Ares I-X, is scheduled for 2009. The first crewed launch of the Ares I rocket is planned for no later than 2015, and NASA plans to send the first missions back to the moon around 2020.

"We're proud to help continue the nation's tradition of leadership in space," Cook said. "Since NASA's creation 50 years ago, our endeavors have yielded or inspired technology innovations that enrich nearly every commercial industry and benefit Americans and people around the world in countless ways. Our team effort on Ares I will continue that legacy, and also help to stimulate our economy and reignite the country's passion to journey to worlds beyond our own.

"It takes a nation to build a rocket," Cook added. "And this is the rocket that will inspire our nation."

The Marshall Center manages Ares Projects for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. The Constellation Program Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston leads the next-generation launch vehicle development program.

Three prime contractors lead NASA's Ares I effort for industry. NASA awarded the contract to lead the Ares I First Stage Project, valued at approximately $1.8 billion, to Alliant Techsystems (ATK) of Minneapolis in August 2007. The Boeing Co. of Huntsville, AL was awarded Ares I contracts valued at approximately $2 billion -- $1.2 billion for the Upper Stage production contract, awarded in September 2007, and $800 million for the Ares I Upper Stage Avionics Unit, awarded in December 2007. The contract for the Ares I Upper Stage Engine Project, valued at approximately $1.2 billion, was awarded to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Inc., of Canoga Park, CA in June 2006.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/ares