Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is the world's second largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries around the world.
The Centaur is a family of rocket propelled upper stages that has been in use since 1962. It is currently produced by U.S. launch service provider United Launch Alliance, with one main active version and one version under development. The 3.05 m (10.0 ft) diameter Common Centaur/Centaur III flies as the upper stage of the Atlas V launch vehicle, and the 5.4 m (18 ft) diameter Centaur V has been developed as the upper stage of ULA's new Vulcan rocket. Centaur was the first rocket stage to use liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants, a high-energy combination that is ideal for upper stages but has significant handling difficulties.
The expander cycle is a power cycle of a bipropellant rocket engine. In this cycle, the fuel is used to cool the engine's combustion chamber, picking up heat and changing phase. The now heated and gaseous fuel then powers the turbine that drives the engine's fuel and oxidizer pumps before being injected into the combustion chamber and burned.
Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, in southern California.
The RL10 is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine built in the United States by Aerojet Rocketdyne that burns cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. Modern versions produce up to 110 kN (24,729 lbf) of thrust per engine in vacuum. Three RL10 versions are in production for the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V and the DCSS of the Delta IV. Three more versions are in development for the Exploration Upper Stage of the Space Launch System and the Centaur V of the Vulcan rocket.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is a subsidiary of American defense company L3Harris that manufactures rocket, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet traces its origins to the General Tire and Rubber Company established in 1915, while Rocketdyne was created as a division of North American Aviation in 1955. Aerojet Rocketdyne was formed in 2013 when Aerojet and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne were merged, following the latter's acquisition by GenCorp, Inc. from Pratt & Whitney. Aerojet Rocketdyne was acquired by L3Harris in July 2023 for $4.7 billion.
The RS-68 (Rocket System-68) was a liquid-fuel rocket engine that used liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellants in a gas-generator cycle. It was the largest hydrogen-fueled rocket engine ever flown.
The staged combustion cycle is a power cycle of a bipropellant rocket engine. In the staged combustion cycle, propellant flows through multiple combustion chambers, and is thus combusted in stages. The main advantage relative to other rocket engine power cycles is high fuel efficiency, measured through specific impulse, while its main disadvantage is engineering complexity.
The gas-generator cycle, also called open cycle, is one of the most commonly used power cycles in bipropellant liquid rocket engines.
Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp, Inc., In 2013, Aerojet was merged by GenCorp with the former Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to form Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Atlas is a family of US missiles and space launch vehicles that originated with the SM-65 Atlas. The Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program was initiated in the late 1950s under the Convair Division of General Dynamics. Atlas was a liquid propellant rocket burning RP-1 kerosene fuel with liquid oxygen in three engines configured in an unusual "stage-and-a-half" or "parallel staging" design: two outboard booster engines were jettisoned along with supporting structures during ascent, while the center sustainer engine, propellant tanks and other structural elements remained connected through propellant depletion and engine shutdown.
The Space Launch Initiative (SLI) was a NASA and U.S. Department of Defense joint research and technology project to determine the requirements to meet all the nation's hypersonics, space launch and space technology needs. It was also known as the "2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program.". The program began with the award of RLV study contracts in 2000.
The RL60 was a planned liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine designed in the United States by Pratt & Whitney, burning cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. The engine runs on an expander cycle, running the turbopumps with waste heat absorbed from the main combustion process. This high-efficiency, waste heat based combustion cycle combined with the high-performance liquid hydrogen fuel enables the engine to reach a very high specific impulse of up to 465 seconds in a vacuum. The engine was planned to be a more capable successor to the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10, providing improved performance and efficiency while maintaining the installation envelope of the RL10.
The RD-0146 (РД-0146) is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine developed by KBKhA Kosberg in Voronezh, Russia.
The Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES) was a proposed liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen upper-stage for use on a number of different launch vehicles produced by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance (ULA). During the last five years of the program, ACES was proposed for eventual use on the Vulcan space launch vehicle designed by the U.S. company United Launch Alliance. The ACES concept had the objective to improve the on-orbit lifespan of current upper stages.
The Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) is a family of cryogenic-fuelled rocket stages used on the Delta III, Delta IV, and on the Space Launch System Block 1 launch vehicles. The DCSS employs a unique two-tank architecture where the cylindrical liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank carries payload launch loads and forms the upper section. An oblate spheroid tank filled with liquid oxygen (LOX) and the engine are suspended from the LH2 tank and covered by the interstage during initial launch.
The RS-88 is a liquid-fueled rocket engine designed and built in the United States by Rocketdyne. Originally developed for NASA's Bantam System Technology program in 1997, the RS-88 burned ethanol fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer. It offered 220 kN (49,000 lbf) of thrust at sea level.
The RS-27 was a liquid-propellant rocket engine developed in 1974 by Rocketdyne to replace the aging MB-3 in the Delta. Incorporating components of the venerable MB-3 and the H-1 designs, the RS-27 was a modernized version of the basic design used for two decades. It was used to power the first stage of the Delta 2000, 3000, 5000, and the first model of the Delta II, the Delta 6000.
Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle created and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle consisting of the Vulcan first stage and the Centaur second stage. It replaces ULA's Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. It is principally designed for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which launches satellites for U.S. intelligence agencies and the Defense Department, but ULA believes it will also be able to price missions low enough to attract commercial launches.
The MARC-60, also known as MB-60, MB-XX, and RS-73, is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine designed as a collaborative effort by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and US' Aerojet Rocketdyne. The engine burns cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in an open expander cycle, driving the turbopumps with waste heat from the main combustion process.
