Joanna Crews
Orbital ATK has tested a rocket motor technology at its Promontory, Utah, facility in preparation for a scheduled April 2019 test of a spacecraft system designed to keep astronauts safe if a problem occurs during ascent.
NASA and Lockheed Martin intend to use an SR 118 motor for the Ascent Abort 2 Flight Test that will evaluate the Orion capsule’s launch abort system, Orbital ATK said Friday.
SR 118 was developed as the first stage of the Peacekeeper InterContinental Ballistic Missile the U.S. Air Force deployed in 1986 and deactivated in 2002.
The motor completed 23 static motor firing tests at Orbital ATK’s Promontory facility and 19 flight test missile launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base during the Peacekeeper ICBM development phase.
It features a composite motor case, solid propellant, igniter, a thrust vector system and nozzle, internal and external insulation, external protective material and forward and aft skirts, the company noted.
SR 118 motors are used to also launch commercial payloads into orbit.
