Hydrogen-fueled engine for Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle passes final hot-fire acceptance test
NewsApril 12, 2021
NASA -- STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. The powerful hydrogen-fueled rocket engine built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the RS-68A, completed its final hot-fire acceptance test in preparation for its use on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.
ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket uses three Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A engines -- combined to generate more than two million pounds of thrust for the Delta IV Heavy -- one on each of its three common booster cores to launch the spacecraft into orbit.
The Delta IV Heavy -- the primary heavy-lift launch vehicle for the U.S. space program -- is scheduled for four more launches. In addition to launching numerous payloads supporting the U.S. Air Force Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office, the Delta IV Heavy carried NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the EFT-1 mission in 2014 and launched the Parker Solar Probe in 2018 on its mission to the sun.
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