Results Of Test Will Determine If The Company Uses The Motor

United Launch Alliance is preparing to conduct a series of hot-fire tests on the Blue Origin BE-4 engine, which the company is considering to replace Russian-built RD-180 rocket motors.

Defense News reports that, according to ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno, successful hot-fire tests of the BE-4 engine will determine whether the engine is chosen, or the company uses a different engine in its Vulcan launch system.

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing joint space launch venture is also considering Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1 engine, but the BE4 will be certified two years earlier, and Congress has mandated that the company stop using the Russian-built engines. But Bruno said that everything hinges on whether the BE-4 engine works. "It’s a big decision, and you only get to make it once, and if you pick the wrong engine it’s very difficult to come back from that, so we’re going to be very, very careful,” he said.

The BE-4 is the first rocket engine of its size to use methane as a propellant. That could lead to combustion instability. So ULA is waiting until after the test fire to make a decision.

The first full-scale BE-4 engine has been built and shipped to the company's facility in west Texas for ground testing. The hot-fire tests will be conducted later this year at gradually increasing power levels and longer durations.

ULA will get input on the engine selection from a team of experts it has assembled. Congress has also established a group made up of NASA engineers and scientists. The Air Force, a major customer of ULA, is also expected to have a say in the decision.

(Image from Blue Origin website)

FMI: www.ulalaunch.com