NASA Test-Fires 1st Engine Controller Unit for SLS Rocket

NASA has conducted a 500-second, live-fire test of an engine controller installed on an RS-25 development engine for the Space Launch System rocket at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The space agency will verify the data collected from the live-fire test held Thursday and then install the Engine Controller Unit-2 on one of the four Aerojet Rocketdyne-built RS-25 flight engines designed to launch SLS and the Orion spacecraft for the initial deep space mission, NASA said Friday.

The engine controller works to monitor and communicate the thrust level, propellant mixture ratio and other engine conditions.

The test came two months after NASA completed the preliminary design review of the exploration upper stage for the SLS rocket.

NASA plans to test two more ECUs on the development engine this year before it simultaneously evaluates the fourth engine controller with the SLS rocket’s core stage as part of a “green run” activity at Stennis Space Center.

The agency collaborated with engineers from Aerojet Rocketdyne and Syncom Space Services to conduct the live-fire test.

Syncom Space acts as the principal contractor for Stennis Space Center’s operations and facilities.