Aerojet Rocketdyne on Tuesday said its planned proposal for the Air Force’s next-generation rocket program that will provide an alternative to a Russian rocket will be flight qualified in 2019.
The 500,000-pound thrust class liquid engine AR1 is currently in development and builds on 20-years of technology development and maturation through its RS-68, RL10 and J-2X rocket programs. The company said the AR1, which will also take advantage of existing manufacturing and test facilities, offers a “low-risk transition to affordable production utilizing a known supply base, a multi-use manufacturing footprint and a proven and skilled workforce.”
Aerojet Rocketdyne, which is a division of GenCorp [GY], as well as ATK [ATK] and a team consisting of Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA), have all said they plan to bid on a potential multi-billion dollar new Air Force engine program, which the service is exploring to have a domestically-produced solution to secure an alternative to relying on Russia’s RD-180 engines that are used for most Defense Department and intelligence community space launches.
In August, the Air Force issued a Request for Information about the possibility of a domestic source for the new rocket engine. Responses were due last month.
Aerojet Rocketdyne said incorporating the AR1 into the Atlas V launch vehicle, which is provided by ULA, would require minimal changes to the Atlas V and related support equipment and infrastructure. The company also said the AR1’s modular design allows it to be used with multiple launch vehicles.
“Delivering high-performance, reliable propulsion systems is our core business at Aerojet Rocketdyne and our record of mission success on more than 2,100 launches to date is unmatched in the industry,” Paul Meyer, senior vice president of Advanced Programs and Business Development, said in a statement. “Our AR1 engine will deliver the lowest life-cycle cost and the reliability needed to launch the Air Force’s critical payloads.”
ULA is a joint venture between Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT].