NASA has selected Boeing to receive $460 million in additional funding to further develop the Boeing Commercial Crew Transportation System in the third round of the Commercial Crew Program, Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap). In its partnership with Boeing on CCiCap, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will continue to support development of the service module with integrated launch-abort propulsion system for the Commercial Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft. The CST-100 spacecraft is designed to transport people to the International Space Station and other low-Earth orbit destinations. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (UTX) company.
“Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne looks forward to continuing this partnership with Boeing and building on the propulsion successes already achieved in the development of Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft under the CCDev and CCDev2 program phases,” said Terry Lorier, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s Commercial Crew program manager, supporting Boeing’s program. “We’re confident our proven propulsion technology and engineering skills will help maintain U.S. leadership in space.”
The CCiCap agreement between NASA and Boeing focuses on the design and development of a fully-integrated commercial crew transportation system that includes spacecraft, launch vehicle and ground and mission systems. In its partnership with Boeing, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will continue to provide support on propulsion system design maturation leading to the Critical Design Review, and complete development testing on key propulsion system components on the CST-100 spacecraft.
The spacecraft’s service module propulsion system provides integrated launch-abort capability and all propulsion needs during flight — from launch-vehicle separation, to docking with an orbiting space complex, to separation of the crew and service modules when it begins re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Under its CCiCap contract with Boeing, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is leveraging proven Attitude Control Propulsion System thrusters from heritage programs, a low-cost Bantam engine design and its storable propellant engineering capabilities to partner with Boeing.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including engines for launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines. Behind its successful designs, manufacturing processes, and hardware are Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s research and development engineers, who solve tough problems in extreme environments. For more information, go to www.PrattWhitneyRocketdyne.com. Follow us at www.Twitter.com/PWRocketdyne and www.Facebook.com/PWRocketdyne.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.
