Engine Completes Two Times Normal Firing Duration of a Taurus
II Launch Profile
Aerojet and Orbital Sciences
Corporation, along with Aerojet's Russian partner, SNTK, announced
Tuesday that a series of NK-33 rocket engine tests conducted in
Samara, Russia were successfully completed in support of the
development of Orbital's Taurus II space launch vehicle.
The purpose of the extended-time testing of the NK-33 engine, on
which the AJ26 first-stage engine for the Taurus II rocket is
based, was to demonstrate a 'hot-fire' duration equal to two times
a normal Taurus II acceptance testing and launch profile duty
cycle. Over the last two weeks, three tests were conducted by SNTK
with a cumulative duration of more than 600 seconds. These tests
verified the significant technical margins on engine performance
and durability required by Orbital's Taurus II development
program.
GenCorp President and CEO and Aerojet President, Scott Seymour,
said, "Completing the margin testing is a significant milestone in
Aerojet's contract with Orbital. This success demonstrates the
engine's robust design and its ability to operate at the power
levels and duration times compatible with the Taurus II flight
profile with additional performance margin."
"The success of the NK-33 engine
tests in Russia is an important step forward in the development of
the Taurus II rocket," said Ron Grabe, Orbital's Executive Vice
President and General Manager of its Launch Systems Group. "With
the performance of the heritage engine now confirmed and well
understood, we can move forward with confidence to configuration
verification and acceptance testing of AJ26 engines at NASA's
Stennis Space Center in Mississippi beginning in April."
Aerojet is the provider of the AJ26/NK-33 rocket engine for the
first stage of the Taurus II launcher. The basic NK-33 engine was
originally designed and produced in Russia for the Russian N1 lunar
launch vehicle. Aerojet subsequently purchased approximately 40 of
the basic NK-33 engines in the mid-1990s and, under contract with
Orbital, the company is currently modifying the engines
specifically for the Taurus II launch vehicle.
Aerojet and Orbital are scheduled to begin ground testing of the
AJ26 engine at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in less
than two months. The U.S.-based testing will validate the Taurus II
specific engine configuration and continue to build on the
extensive engine database that includes more than 17 years of
development testing, encompassing approximately 1,500 engine-level
tests totaling 194,000 seconds of firing duration. After the design
verification tests are completed at Stennis, regular production
acceptance testing will be initiated, paving the way to the first
flights of the Taurus II rocket in 2011.
NTSB Final Report: Rutan Long-EZ
See All