Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Pentagon signs contracts on building rocket engine to replace Russia’s RD-180

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: March 1, 2016 at 9:43:36 AM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Pentagon signs contracts on building rocket engine to replace Russia's RD-180

Pentagon signs contracts on building rocket engine to replace Russia's RD-180

March 01, 10:47 UTC+3
The work is expected to be completed no later than December 31, 2019 and may require a total potential government investment of $536 million

WASHINGTON, March 1. /TASS/. The Pentagon has signed contracts with American companies Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Services (ULA) for the development of a rocket engine, which should replace Russia's RD-180 engine in the United States, the press service of the US Department of Defense reported on Monday.
Following the US Air Force selection of AR1 for a Rocket Propulsion System award, Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD), named Dynetics of Huntsville, Alabama, as a key team member for the AR1 engine development, Aerojet Rocketdyne said in a release on its website.
The AR1 engine is designed as a replacement for the Russian-built RD-180 engine, currently being used to launch America's defense and national security assets on the Atlas V launch vehicle. AR1 is a 500,000 lbf thrust-class liquid oxygen/kerosene booster engine incorporating the latest technology, processes and materials, the release says.
According to the company, the work is expected to be completed no later than December 31, 2019. The Air Force intends to initially obligate $115.3 million with Aerojet Rocketdyne and ULA contributing $57.7 million. The total potential government investment, including all options, is $536 million. The total potential investment by Aerojet Rocketdyne and its partners, including all options, is $268 million.
The AR1 engine is adaptable to current and future launch vehicles in development.
"The AR1 engine is the right catalyst for moving our nation away from Russian reliance and returning America's preeminence as a propulsion leader," said Jim Simpson, senior vice president of Strategy and Business Development at Aerojet Rocketdyne. "Our collaboration with Dynetics in developing key AR1 components is an essential element to having a certified engine in 2019".

US Aerospace Company Wins Contract to Replace Russian Rocket Engines
© Photo: Russian Defence Ministry

04:24 01.03.2016
132924312
The US Defense Department said Monday that the US aerospace corporation has been awarded a contract of more than $100 million to build a new rocket propulsion system to end American dependence on the Russian machines.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Air Force has awarded a major US aerospace corporation a contract worth more than $100 million to build a new rocket propulsion system to end American dependence on the Russian RD-180 engine, the Defense Department said in a press release.
"Aerojet Rocketdyne, Canoga Park, California, has been awarded a $115.3 [million]… agreement for the development of the AR1 rocket propulsion system prototype for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program," the release stated on Monday.
© Sputnik/ Yuri Streletc
Going Nowhere: Ban on Russian-Made Rocket Engines Could Leave US Space Program in Limbo

The release noted that the agreement implements a provision of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which requires the development of a next-generation rocket propulsion system to replace the Russian RD-180 engine for US National Security Space launches.
On February 22, Senator Richard Shelby wrote in the Wall Street Journal that that the US government should continue buying and operating the RD-180 until an American-manufactured domestic alternative was available to ensure continued US access to space.
Some members of the US Congress, led by Senator John McCain, are against the fact that the US Air Force relies on RD-180 engines, imported from Russia, to get to space.
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, argues that Washington should stop buying the RD-180, a cost-effective booster engine with unique features, which powers te Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

© 2016 Sputnik All rights reserved.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, ULA win Air Force propulsion contracts
by Mike Gruss — February 29, 2016

United Launch Alliance ultimately plans to replace its Atlas 5 rocket with the Vulcan, picture above. The Air Force awarded ULA a $46 million contract for work on the rocket and its new upper stage engine. Credit: ULA.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force will invest up to $536 million in Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1 rocket engine and as much as $202 million in United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket as a way to end dependence on the Russian rocket engine used to launch most U.S. national security payloads, according to a Feb. 29 announcement from the Pentagon.
Aerojet Rocketdyne will use the money to help develop its AR1 rocket engine. ULA will develop a prototype of its Vulcan launch vehicle with the BE-4 engine and work on its next-generation upper stage engine known as the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage, or ACES.
The contracts are among the Air Force's top space acquisition priorities for 2016.
Following the Crimean crisis of 2014, Congress directed the Defense Department to develop domestic propulsion systems that would enable the Air Force to end its reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 by 2019. That engine powers ULA's Atlas 5 rocket, which is used to launch a majority of national security satellites.
The Air Force said in June it intended to award a total of $160 million to fund work on both main- and upper-stage rocket engines. Industry would be required to cover at least one-third of the costs of their proposed development efforts, but the actual size of the government investment would vary from proposal to proposal. But once the Air Force awarded four contracts the initial total was $242 million, including $115 million to Aerojet Rocketdyne.
"Having two or more domestic, commercially viable launch providers that also meet national security space requirements continues to be our end goal," Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, said in a press release. "These innovative public-private partnerships with industry as they develop their rocket propulsion systems are a key part of the [Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle] acquisition strategy to assure access to space and address the urgent need to transition away from strategic foreign reliance."
Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1 that, like the RD-180 it is intended to replace, is fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The initial value of the contract the Air Force awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne Feb. 29 is $115 million but options could raise the potential government investment to $536 million. Aerojet Rocketdyne's share of development costs, under that scenario, would top $268 million.
"AR1 will return the United States to the forefront of kerosene rocket propulsion technology," Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne's chief executive officer, said in a press release. "We are incorporating the latest advances in modern manufacturing, while capitalizing on our rich knowledge of rocket engines to produce a new, state-of-the-art engine that will end our reliance on a foreign supplier to launch our nation's national security assets."
Aerojet Rocketdyne executives say they plan to test the first AR1 development engine in 2017, followed by additional testing in 2018 and to provide a certified engine in 2019.
Following the Pentagon's announcement, the company said Huntsville, Alabama-based Dynetics will become a subcontractor for the work and supply elements of the engine's main propulsion system, ignition system and ground support equipment.
ULA announced in September 2014 that its first choice for a new engine for its Vulcan rocket is the BE-4, a liquid-natural-gas fueled engine that cannot be used on the Atlas 5 as currently designed. Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is developing that engine using its own funds.
The Air Force awarded ULA a $46 million contract Feb. 29 to develop a prototype of the Vulcan rocket using the BE-4 and the upper stage engine. With options, the potential government investment in Vulcan could reach $202 million. ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, would be expected to contribute as much as $134 million under that scenario.
ULA said the Air Force funding would help integrate the BE-4 with the Vulcan launch vehicle.
"While the RD-180 engine has been a remarkable success with more than 60 successful launches, we believe now is the right time for American investment in a domestic engine," Tory Bruno, ULA's president and chief executive officer, said in a release.
ULA has said the Vulcan's first flight could be as early as 2019 and that the ACES upper stage engine could fly as early as 2023. Last year, ULA officials said an ACES-equipped Vulcan, augmented by strap-on boosters, would have 30 percent more lift capacity than the Delta 4 Heavy, currently the largest vehicle in the U.S. fleet.
ULA has a contract with Aerojet to retain the AR1 as a backup in case the BE-4 effort falters. ULA is expected to choose which engine it will develop for Vulcan late this year.
The Feb. 29 announcement is the Air Force's second round of contract of awards for rocket propulsion systems. On Jan. 13 the service announced it would invest at least $46.9 million and perhaps as much as $180 million, to develop three technologies for a new rocket from Orbital ATK. In addition, SpaceX received at least $33.6 million, and perhaps as much as $61 million, to continue development of its reusable methane-fueled Raptor engine.

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