Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), a business unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX – News), has been selected by NASA to provide a new version of its Apollo-era J-2 as the propulsion system for the agency’s Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) upper stage in the next decade.
Up-rated in power and designated the J-2X, the hydrogen/oxygen-fueled engine will be rated for human flight. The first launch of a human aboard the J-2X-powered CLV is planned for 2012. The NASA baseline effort calls for seven development engines, two certification engines and one flight-only engine.
NASA based its decision on the J-2’s performance history as part of the Apollo program, and the fact that the agency could utilize an engine in this thrust class for both the CLV upper stage job and, in the future, to power the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) for lunar missions that will be lofted on the planned Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV).
J-2 derivative turbomachinery was used for the powerpack in the XRS-2200 aerospike development engine for the X-33, which was hot-fire tested in 2000, demonstrating PWR’s ability to build and integrate the hardware. The agency also cited PWR’s long experience in the development of major booster engines as credentials for producing the new J-2X.
John Vilja, director of advanced propulsion for PWR, said a number of upgrades are being considered to meet all mission requirements. “We’ll be harvesting mature, flight-proven technologies to further enhance the J-2X’s performance,” Vilja said, “including a channel-walled main combustion chamber. And we’ll be implementing many producibility techniques that have been used with other current engines.”
“We’re both thrilled and honored that NASA has chosen the J-2X as the engine that will eventually take American astronauts back to the moon,” said Byron Wood, PWR president. “We were very proud to be given a significant role in going to the moon before, and we’re just as excited to take part in the return.”
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. offers a complete line of propulsion products, from boosters to upper stage engines. These have been used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the Space Shuttle and propulsion systems for the Atlas and Delta expendable launch vehicles. Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies provides high-technology products and services to the aerospace and building industries.
