Powerful, evolvable, and soon to be on its way to space – NASA’s new rocket is getting fired up.
But what will provide the fire after the rocket reaches space? That will be the upper stage engine, the RL10.
The new rocket is Space Launch System (SLS), launching for the first time in 2018. It will carry a spacecraft that humans will use during the missions that follow to explore multiple deep space destinations. The spacecraft is called Orion, and this first launch will send Orion past the moon and return it to Earth after about three weeks.
Since rockets have a lot of parts and SLS is no exception, let’s keep it simple and just focus on one part – the upper stage engine, RL-10.
The RL-10 engine will be located directly underneath Orion.
RL10 engine test. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne
This won’t be the first time the RL10 engine will send a mission into deep space. Every planet in our solar system has been visited by a spacecraft propelled by this engine. With an incredibly successful history of flights and high reliability, the engine will be well placed in SLS to make upcoming deep space exploration by humans a reality.
For future configurations of SLS, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage will be replaced by an exploration upper stage. The upcoming upper stage will use not only one of these proven engines, but four! Click below to get a sense of SLS’s evolution –
One RL10B-2 engine will be used on the inaugural flight of SLS. A founding member of the Coalition, Aerojet Rocketdyne, has been contracted by NASA to produce the engines for the 2nd and 3rd launches – RL10C-3. Four of these engines will be be used on these future flights, and Aerojet Rocketdyne will also provide two spare RL10C-3s.
With the first launch of SLS, NASA is preparing for future launches that will have humans onboard to explore multiple deep space destinations.
Learn more about SLS at NASA.gov.