Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
(SpaceX) has completed the qualification testing program of its
Merlin 1C next generation liquid fueled rocket booster engine for
use in the Falcon 1 rocket. Tests were conducted at the SpaceX
Texas Test Facility near Waco, TX, on a Merlin 1C configured for
powering the first stage of a Falcon 1 rocket. After completing
development testing in November of 2007, the qualification program
began to verify the final design features on an actual production
engine, clearing the way for full-scale manufacturing.
“Our propulsion and test teams finished the qualification
program with a record-breaking day that included four full mission
duration firings on the engine,” said Tom Mueller, Vice
President of Propulsion for SpaceX. “This marathon run
brought the total operating time on a single engine to over 27
minutes, which is more than ten complete flights. The engine meets
or exceeds all requirements for thrust, performance and
durability.”
“This was the final development milestone required for the
next Falcon 1 flight,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX.
“In the coming weeks we’ll begin qualifying Merlin for
the higher thrust and performance levels required by our Falcon 9
rocket, keeping us on track for delivering the first Falcon 9
vehicle to Cape Canaveral by year end.”
The single Merlin 1C will power SpaceX’s next Falcon 1
mission, scheduled to lift off in Spring of 2008 from the SpaceX
launch complex in the Central Pacific atoll of Kwajalein. The far
larger Falcon 9 uses nine Merlins on the first stage, and a single
Merlin in vacuum configuration powers the Falcon 9 second
stage.
The Merlin 1C is an improved version of the Merlin 1A ablatively
cooled engine, which lofted the Falcon 1 on its first flight in
March 2006 and second flight in March 2007. The regeneratively
cooled Merlin 1C uses rocket propellant grade kerosene (RP-1), a
refined form of jet fuel, to first cool the combustion chamber and
nozzle before being combined with the liquid oxygen to create
thrust. This cooling allows for higher performance without
significantly increasing engine mass.
In its Falcon 1 configuration, Merlin 1C has a thrust at sea
level of 78,000 lbs, a vacuum thrust of 90,000 pounds and a vacuum
specific impulse of 301 seconds. In generating this thrust, Merlin
consumes 300 lbs/second of propellant and the chamber and nozzle,
cooled by 90 lbs/sec of kerosene, are capable of absorbing 10 MW of
heat energy.
The Merlin engine is the first new American booster engine in
ten years and only the second in over a quarter century. The prior
two American engines were the RS-68 developed in the late nineties
by Pratt & Whitney’s RocketDyne division, used in the
Boeing Delta IV launch vehicle, and the Space Shuttle Main Engine
developed in the late seventies, also by RocketDyne. With a
production rate of one engine per week by late 2008, SpaceX will
produce more rocket booster engines than the rest of US production
combined and more than any country except Russia.
As winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
competition, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9
launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for NASA. This will culminate
in Dragon berthing with the International Space Station and
returning safely to Earth. When the Shuttle retires in 2010, Falcon
9 / Dragon will have the opportunity to replace the Shuttle in
servicing the Space Station.
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