Latest Spacecraft propulsion Stories

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., collaborated with NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif., to successfully complete a series of thruster tests at the White Sands test facility. The test will aid in maneuvering and landing the next generation of robotic lunar landers that could be used to explore the moon's surface and other airless celestial bodies.The Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at the...

As NASA studies possibilities for the next launcher to the stars, a team of engineers from Kennedy Space Center and several other field centers are looking for a system that turns a host of existing cutting-edge technologies into the next giant leap spaceward.An early proposal has emerged that calls for a wedge-shaped aircraft with scramjets to be launched horizontally on an electrified track or gas-powered sled. The aircraft would fly up to Mach 10, using the scramjets and wings to lift it...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, announced its key role in the successful launch of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Space Vehicle #1 (SV#1). Launching in its 531 configuration, Aerojet provided three solid rocket boosters for the Atlas V launch vehicle, eight retro rockets for the Atlas Centaur separation from the launch vehicle, 12 reaction...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, announced today that its Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target (SSST) ramjet propulsion system successfully completed the first flight test of the Coyote High Diver variant supersonic target mission. Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital) developed the target vehicle and uses Aerojet's solid-fueled Variable Flow Ducted Rocket (VFDR) propulsion engine. Orbital upgraded the original SSST configuration with...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The South Florida Manufacturers Association (SFMA) named Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in West Palm Beach the 2009 "Manufacturer of the Year" in the large company category at its annual Recognition of Excellence Awards Banquet. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne facility in West Palm Beach designs, manufactures and tests space propulsion and hypersonic...

Engineers at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center recently installed an Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine for qualification testing as part of a partnership that highlights the space agency's commitment to work with commercial companies to provide space transportation.Stennis has partnered with Orbital Sciences Corporation to test the AJ26 engines that will power the first stage of the company's Taurus® II space launch vehicle. Orbital is working in partnership with NASA under the agency's...

An unmanned probe launched by Japan's space agency had a successful test of its innovative solar sail propulsion system, after getting its first acceleration push from sunlight, the agency announced. Based on observations of the Ikaros solar sail, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed the probe has received a growing speed boost from light radiated by the sun. "The small solar power sail demonstrator 'Ikaros,' which successfully deployed its solar sail, was confirmed to...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE) demonstrated a throttling range 35 percent greater than in previous tests, as well as several new technology breakthroughs to support space exploration. The CECE is a 15,000-pound thrust class cryogenic demonstrator rocket engine. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). This was the fourth series of CECE tests conducted at...

A tiny camera has revealed that Japan's Ikaros solar sail is fully extended and ready for the next part of its mission. The camera that took the picture was ejected from the central hub of Ikaros.  It transmitted the image back to the central hub of the spacecraft, which relayed the data back to Earth. Ikaros will demonstrate the principle of solar sailing, which has been long envisioned as a future means of getting around the Solar System. The pressure of sunlight should drive the hub and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, announced today that it has signed an agreement with NEC Corporation (TSE:6701) to jointly supply HAYABUSA-derived ion propulsion systems for the U.S. and Japanese aerospace markets. These ion propulsion systems provide significant advantages for geosynchronous satellites and deep space missions through fuel efficiencies over 10 times higher than those of conventional propulsion systems. The...