United Launch Alliance (ULA) is jumpstarting development of a new engine for one of its main space launch vehicles.
The Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, which launches satellites and other spacecraft for the U.S. military and NASA, announced June 16 that it has signed contracts with “multiple” American companies to explore concepts for a new liquid oxygen/hydrocarbon, first-stage engine for the Atlas V rocket. Each company “will conduct technical feasibility analysis, develop high-fidelity plans [and] identify schedule, cost and technical risks, as well as cost estimates to meet aggressive recurring-cost targets,” ULA said.
While declining to identify the firms, the Denver-based ULA said it will narrow the field to one concept and engine supplier by the fourth quarter of this year. A first launch of the new engine is slated for 2019.
Rocket Develoment Comes As Concerns About Russia Grow
ULA’s move comes amid heightened concerns about U.S. dependence on the Russia-made RD-180 engine, which has powered the Atlas V since the rocket’s debut in 2002. Tensions between the two countries over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine have fueled fears that Moscow may retaliate by cutting off shipments of the RD-180.
“As the nation’s steward of the launch industrial base and the only company certified to launch our nation’s most critical missions, it is incumbent upon ULA to bring forward the best solutions to preserve that capability for the future,” said Michael Gass, ULA’s president and CEO. “While the RD-180 has been a remarkable success, we believe now is the right time for American investment in a domestic engine.”
The House Appropriations Committee and an advisory group headed by Ret. Air Force Maj. Gen. Howard J. “Mitch” Mitchell both recommended recently that the Department of Defense begin developing a new Atlas V engine. The Mitchell panel estimated that a new engine could be available by fiscal year 2022 if a full-fledged development program begins in fiscal year 2016.
Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall told reporters June 13 that DOD and other U.S. space-related agencies are reviewing their options.
“We are motivated, if we can do it, to remove the dependency that we have,” Kendall said. “We would like to do that. We haven’t figured out exactly how to get there yet.”
ULA said it will continue to “evaluate the long-term feasibility of the RD-180 in competition with the anticipated new engine.” Product improvements and U.S. production are being explored for the RD-180. Gass said “it is critical that America preserve current capabilities and options while simultaneously pursuing this new engine.”
The Atlas V is not the only rocket whose engine has an uncertain future. Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, expressed concern June 13 that the solid-fuel engines for the Navy’s submarine-launched Trident II D5 nuclear missile could skyrocket in cost due to declining Air Force and NASA demand for such engines. One possibility being looked at is using a different mix of propellant, but such a change could require a missile redesign, Benedict said at a Capitol Hill seminar.
