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The Russia - US kerfuffle may have killed off the Atlas V launcher due to the dueling embargoes, and SpaceX's Raptor methane. engine seems to be inserting itself into the conversation as component tests started this month at NASA Stennis in Mississippi.
The SpaceX lawsuit is about a USAF acquisitions officer giving United Launch Alliance (ULA - the fly Atlas & Delta) a 36 launch no-bid contract just before retiring to a cushy job with a major ULA contractor.
The SpaceX lawsuit is about a USAF acquisitions officer giving United Launch Alliance (ULA - the fly Atlas & Delta) a 36 launch no-bid contract just before retiring to a cushy job with a major ULA contractor.
Delta IV could be next SpaceX target as ULA struggles to maintain its Atlas V
Support for quickly starting a new liquid oxygen*(LOx)/hydrocarbon rocket engine, possibly relying on methane fuel, is growing in U.S. space oversight circles. An influential government commission and senior Air Force officials are throwing their weight behind it, and momentum is mounting amid the political firestorm surrounding Russia’s threat to cut off the supply of RD-180 engines used on the Atlas V first stage.
But support is less about easing an RD-180 supply shortfall and more about preserving options in the long term to fulfill the White House’s “assured access to space†policy, according to a prominent industry expert and the commission’s findings.
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The Atlas V—always the less expensive of ULA’s fleet (partly owing to the Russian engine sourcing), the most competitive in the commercial market, and the nearest peer to*Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) new Falcon family—is effectively over, an industry source says. This longtime player in the space industry preferred talking on background. The convergence of a Russian threat to cut off RD-180 supply, SpaceX’s impending certification to compete with the Falcon 9v1.1 and the lawsuit filed by SpaceX April 28 claiming ULA’s sole-source deal with the U.S. Air Force was anticompetitive has put so much pressure on the Atlas V that it is unlikely to survive, the source says.
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The “Mitchell Commission,†led by Air Force Maj. Gen. (ret.) Howard Mitchell, a longtime Air Force space insider who is now a vice president at the Aerospace Corp., is backing the idea of a new liquid oxygen/hydrocarbon engine. And so is Shelton. “I would love to see us produce an engine; our industrial base has kind of withered,†Shelton said at the Space Symposium. “Personally, what I would like to see us pursue is hydrocarbon boost,†Shelton says. “I don’t think LOx/kerosene is the way to go. Certainly LOx/hydrogen is a thing of the past.†LOx/hydrogen requires big tanks owing to its low density and cryogenics, yet it is highly energetic. Kerosene is more dense, like a liquid, but not as effective. Engineers are now exploring whether methane—with qualities between the two—can balance these trades. It can be located on the rocket adjacent to the LOx tanks and is expected to produce good thrust, but work remains to make the technology operational.*
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Though not released publicly, the Mitchell commission’s findings are included in a briefing obtained by Aviation Week. The panel calls for fielding the new engine in fiscal 2022. “A new launch vehicle could be certified by [fiscal] 2023 and replace the Delta IV as a more effective marginal cost solution to Heavy Lift,†the commission’s briefing says.
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The commission suggests the Pentagon maintain the $141 million investment in hydrocarbon propulsion risk reduction planned in the fiscal 2016 budget proposal, which is being crafted. The industry source says another $200 million could be added in the next two years to support the work, which is largely focused on maturing methane fuel options as a potential alternative to liquid hydrogen or kerosene....
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SpaceX has announced plans to build the Raptor, a methane-fueled engine.Aerojet*has largely focused on LOx/kerosene work; Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet Rocketdyne vice president for Advanced Space & Launch Systems, says an RD-180 replacement could take four years. Advances in methane propulsion warrant an open mind on the part of the government, one source says, although a downselect is inevitable in a few years.
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Support for quickly starting a new liquid oxygen*(LOx)/hydrocarbon rocket engine, possibly relying on methane fuel, is growing in U.S. space oversight circles. An influential government commission and senior Air Force officials are throwing their weight behind it, and momentum is mounting amid the political firestorm surrounding Russia’s threat to cut off the supply of RD-180 engines used on the Atlas V first stage.
But support is less about easing an RD-180 supply shortfall and more about preserving options in the long term to fulfill the White House’s “assured access to space†policy, according to a prominent industry expert and the commission’s findings.
>
The Atlas V—always the less expensive of ULA’s fleet (partly owing to the Russian engine sourcing), the most competitive in the commercial market, and the nearest peer to*Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) new Falcon family—is effectively over, an industry source says. This longtime player in the space industry preferred talking on background. The convergence of a Russian threat to cut off RD-180 supply, SpaceX’s impending certification to compete with the Falcon 9v1.1 and the lawsuit filed by SpaceX April 28 claiming ULA’s sole-source deal with the U.S. Air Force was anticompetitive has put so much pressure on the Atlas V that it is unlikely to survive, the source says.
>
The “Mitchell Commission,†led by Air Force Maj. Gen. (ret.) Howard Mitchell, a longtime Air Force space insider who is now a vice president at the Aerospace Corp., is backing the idea of a new liquid oxygen/hydrocarbon engine. And so is Shelton. “I would love to see us produce an engine; our industrial base has kind of withered,†Shelton said at the Space Symposium. “Personally, what I would like to see us pursue is hydrocarbon boost,†Shelton says. “I don’t think LOx/kerosene is the way to go. Certainly LOx/hydrogen is a thing of the past.†LOx/hydrogen requires big tanks owing to its low density and cryogenics, yet it is highly energetic. Kerosene is more dense, like a liquid, but not as effective. Engineers are now exploring whether methane—with qualities between the two—can balance these trades. It can be located on the rocket adjacent to the LOx tanks and is expected to produce good thrust, but work remains to make the technology operational.*
>
Though not released publicly, the Mitchell commission’s findings are included in a briefing obtained by Aviation Week. The panel calls for fielding the new engine in fiscal 2022. “A new launch vehicle could be certified by [fiscal] 2023 and replace the Delta IV as a more effective marginal cost solution to Heavy Lift,†the commission’s briefing says.
>
The commission suggests the Pentagon maintain the $141 million investment in hydrocarbon propulsion risk reduction planned in the fiscal 2016 budget proposal, which is being crafted. The industry source says another $200 million could be added in the next two years to support the work, which is largely focused on maturing methane fuel options as a potential alternative to liquid hydrogen or kerosene....
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SpaceX has announced plans to build the Raptor, a methane-fueled engine.Aerojet*has largely focused on LOx/kerosene work; Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet Rocketdyne vice president for Advanced Space & Launch Systems, says an RD-180 replacement could take four years. Advances in methane propulsion warrant an open mind on the part of the government, one source says, although a downselect is inevitable in a few years.
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