Summer Myatt
NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne have wrapped up 25 years of rocket engine testing collaboration that supported 44 national space launches.
The engine builder’s hydrogen-fueled RS-68 technology helped government customers launch key missions, such as the U.S. Air Force-led Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program, while working with NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the agency said Tuesday.
Collaboration between Aerojet Rocketdyne, now part of L3Harris Technologies, and the agency took effect May 18, 1998, through the Reimbursable Space Act Agreement and concluded in August 2023.
The alliance utilized the Stennis B-1 stand to complete 341 tests and assemble 77 flight-certified units for Delta IV rockets built by the Lockheed Martin–Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance.
NASA noted a mission success rate of 100 percent for RS-68-powered launch operations between the space agency and the military.
Aerojet Rocketdyne conducted its final test at the B-1 test platform in April 2021 and will provide three production engines to power a final Delta IV mission in March 2024.