Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Reaches Milestone in Development of America's Next Rocket Engine for Human Spaceflight

CANOGA PARK, Calif., Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne successfully completed the last hot-fire test on the J-2X powerpack -- an important step toward development of America's next rocket engine designed for human spaceflight.  NASA has selected the J-2X as the upper-stage propulsion for the Space Launch System (SLS), an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle.  Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

"This is a significant milestone in the development of the J-2X engine," said Walt Janowski, program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.  "We put the powerpack through a series of demanding tests, pushing it to its limits and acquiring valuable information to help us better understand how the engine will perform during flight.  We look forward to continuing to work with NASA in its quest to provide a safe, reliable transportation system to explore deep space."

The J-2X powerpack tests were designed to evaluate the full range of operating conditions of the engine's components during flight.  The powerpack was tested separately from the engine because it can be operated more thoroughly and at a wider range of conditions than a fully assembled engine.  The powerpack consists of components on top of the engine, including the gas generator, the oxygen and fuel turbopumps, and the ducts, valves and controls that bring the propellants together to drive the turbines of the two turbopumps. Throughout the test series, which began in February 2012 at John C Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the powerpack was fired 13 times for a total of more than 100 minutes – at one point breaking a single-test record of 1,350 seconds on the A-1 test stand. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engineers used varying pressures, temperatures and flow rates to ensure the engine is ready to support exploration to low-Earth orbit, Mars and beyond.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including engines for launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines. Behind its successful designs, manufacturing processes, and hardware are Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's research and development engineers, who solve tough problems in extreme environments. For more information, go to www.PrattWhitneyRocketdyne.com.  Follow us at www.Twitter.com/PWRocketdyne and www.Facebook.com/PWRocketdyne.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

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