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Title    NASA Opens Door to Possibly Lowering SLS Cost Using Blue Origin's Engines
Date    Monday December 18 2017, @01:56PM
Author    martyb
Topic   
from the still-would-be-throwing-them-away dept.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/12/18/0151222

takyon writes:

NASA could use an engine developed by Blue Origin instead of the four RL-10 engines currently used by the Space Launch System (SLS):

[One] problem with legacy hardware, built by traditional contractors such as Orbital ATK and Aerojet Rocketdyne, is that it's expensive. And while NASA has not released per-flight estimates of the expendable SLS rocket's cost, conservative estimates peg it at $1.5 to $2.5 billion per launch. The cost is so high that it effectively precludes more than one to two SLS launches per year.

[...] [The RL-10] engines, manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne, are also costly. (Ars understands that NASA paid an average of $17 million for each RL-10 engine for the maiden Exploration Upper Stage vehicle). So in October, to power the EUS, the space agency issued a request for information to the aerospace community for "a low cost drop-in replacement engine to minimize program cost." According to the document, the initial set of four engines would be needed in mid-2023 to prepare for the third flight of the SLS rocket, known as Exploration Mission-3.

Then, after an extension of the deadline for responses beyond mid-November, NASA revised the RFI on December 1. The revised document no longer seeks a "drop-in replacement" for the RL-10 engine, rather it asks for a "low-cost replacement engine." Although this seems like a subtle change, sources within the aerospace industry indicated to Ars that it is significant. According to NASA, it was done to increase the number of responses.

[...] That would probably include Blue Origin's BE-3U engine, which the company plans to use for its upper stage on the New Glenn heavy lift rocket. This is a modified version of the BE-3 engine that powers the New Shepard rocket, which has now flown successfully seven times. Blue Origin has previously marketed the BE-3U to Orbital ATK for its Next Generation Launch System, which is looking for an upper stage engine. A single BE-3U provides about 120,000 pounds of thrust, which exceeds the 100,000 pounds of thrust provided by four RL-10 engines.

Just cancel SLS and give that money to SpaceX, Blue Origin, or anybody willing to launch competitively.

Related: Maiden Flight of the Space Launch System Delayed to 2019
First SLS Mission Will be Unmanned
Commercial Space Companies Want More Money From NASA
Trump Space Adviser: Mars "Too Ambitious" and SLS is a Strategic National Asset
Boeing CEO Says His Company Will Carry Humans to Mars Before SpaceX
President Trump Signs Space Policy Directive 1


Original Submission

Links

  1. "takyon" - https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/
  2. "NASA could use an engine" - https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/nasa-is-trying-to-make-the-space-launch-system-rocket-more-affordable/
  3. "Blue Origin" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin
  4. "RL-10" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RL10
  5. "Space Launch System" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System
  6. "the document" - https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=a36c19e40f4db317f7de1696086b125e&_cview=0
  7. "revised document" - https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=4599556849e76bc3d5f4bc8b43b2276e&_cview=0
  8. "flown successfully" - https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/after-14-months-a-new-and-improved-new-shepard-flies-again/
  9. "cancel SLS" - https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/09/spacex-bfr-ready-by-2020-so-kill-space-launch-system-and-save-30-billion.html
  10. "Maiden Flight of the Space Launch System Delayed to 2019" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/04/30/2011223
  11. "First SLS Mission Will be Unmanned" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/05/13/2318235
  12. "Commercial Space Companies Want More Money From NASA" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/07/15/2028219
  13. "Trump Space Adviser: Mars "Too Ambitious" and SLS is a Strategic National Asset" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/11/08/200209
  14. "Boeing CEO Says His Company Will Carry Humans to Mars Before SpaceX" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/12/11/0157205
  15. "President Trump Signs Space Policy Directive 1" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/12/12/1130258
  16. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=23865

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