Latest news with #L3Harris
Gizmodo
3 hours ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Rocket Engines That Flew 22 Space Shuttle Missions Are Ready for NASA's Next Moon Mission
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is ready to fly with its four shuttle-era engines. The rocket, outfitted with the RS-25 engines, recently passed a critical milestone that put the integrated system to the test, using a decades-old design on a new launch vehicle. NASA teams successfully completed the RS-25 engine checkout tests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ensuring seamless communication between the SLS core stage and its engines ahead of the first crewed mission to the lunar environment in more than 50 years. Three of the four engines being used for the upcoming Artemis 2 mission have already flown a combined 22 missions as part of NASA's iconic Shuttle program, which ran from 1981 to 2011, while one engine will be making its launch debut. 'I learned during the Space Shuttle program to listen to the engines,' Bill Muddle, RS-25 field engineer, said in a statement. 'The engines talk to you, and you have to listen and understand what they are telling you to ensure they operate properly. They will tell you if they are in ill health and need to be tweaked or if a component is having an issue and needs to be replaced. Based on the [Program Specific Engineering Test], the engines all indicated they were healthy and ready for the pad.' The RS-25 engines were built by L3 Harris Technologies' Aerojet Rocketdyne division for the shuttle project, and NASA has a total of four contracts with the company. SLS Block 1, which launched the Artemis 1 mission in November 2022 and is meant to launch Artemis 2 and 3, is powered by four RS-25 engines in its core stage, along with two solid rocket boosters. Three of the four engines that are currently being used to power SLS for Artemis 2 were part of significant milestones in the Space Shuttle program. Engine 2047 flew on the final shuttle mission on July 21, 2011, while engine 2059 flew on the program's penultimate flight. Engine 2061 was part of the mission that assisted the assembly of the International Space Station. Engine 2062, on the other hand, is a newbie, ready to make its inaugural flight. 'Every day I come to work knowing that the RS-25 field engineering team has to take care of these engines, because we know we have humans riding in Orion on top of this vehicle and these engines have to perform flawlessly,' Muddle said. 'The lives of our astronauts are in the RS-25 team's hands for the eight and a half minutes those engines are firing during launch.' The 5.75-million-pound SLS uses components from NASA's Space Shuttle program, including solid rocket boosters built by Northrop Grumman, as a way to improve its affordability. NASA's original thought process, however, did not pan out too well. The launch vehicle has already gone $6 billion over budget, with the projected cost of each SLS rocket being $144 million more than anticipated. That would increase the overall cost of a single Artemis launch to at least $4.2 billion, according to a report released in 2024 by the office of NASA's inspector general. The giant Moon rocket faces uncertainty under the current administration's proposed budget, which laid out a plan to phase out SLS and its Orion capsule and replace them with commercial substitutes. This week, however, the Senate approved a budget reconciliation bill that would allocate an additional $6 billion to Artemis' current mission architecture. If signed into law, the legislation may just give SLS, and its shuttle-era engines, a fighting chance.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
L3Harris (LHX) wins $487 million DoD contract for Terminal Modernization
L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) is one of the 11 best industrial stocks to buy right now. On June 17, the company announced it had secured a $487.3 million cost-plus fixed contract from the US Department of Defense. Jirat Teparaksa/ The contact is for the modernization of enterprise terminals. The company will also offer depot and engineering support services as part of the contract. The Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground is to manage the five-year contract slated for completion in 2030. An area where the contract will be implemented will be determined with each order as the project progresses. The Army and L3Harris have already partnered on a number of similar contracts. In January, the company received a $300 million buy order to supply the Army with handheld, manpack, and small form fit, or HMS, radios. The contract falls under a possible 10-year, $12.7 billion contract Harris was given in 2016. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) is a global aerospace and defense technology company that provides end-to-end solutions across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains. It specializes in complex intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and electronic warfare (EW) systems. While we acknowledge the potential of LHX as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
With SLS rocket future uncertain, L3Harris still cranking out engines
While NASA's Artemis program may ultimately abandon the Space Launch System rocket, for now, Melbourne-based L3Harris is pushing forward with the manufacture of the powerful rocket's core stage engines. The SLS core stage gets 2 million pounds of thrust from four RS-25 engines that for the first four Artemis missions are engines from the Space Shuttle Program refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which L3Harris acquired in 2023. The first engine produced for the fifth mission, which was built from scratch after the depletion of the space shuttle supply, is now in NASA's hands. On Friday, the engine, dubbed No. 20001, underwent an 8 1/2-minute hot fire on a test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. That duration equals the time the engine would burn on launch if and when Artemis V gets off the ground. The engine was also cranked up to 111% power. 'This successful acceptance test shows that we've been able to replicate the RS-25's performance and reliability, while incorporating modern manufacturing techniques and upgraded components such as the main combustion chamber, nozzle and pogo accumulator assembly,' said Kristin Houston, president of the company's space propulsion and power systems division. So far NASA has flown the SLS once on the Artemis I mission in 2022. The four RS-25 engines powered the core stage that paired with two solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman, combined to create 8.8 million pounds of thrust on liftoff. It remains the most powerful rocket ever to make it to orbit. SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy nearly doubles that thrust, but has only performed suborbital test launches so far. Artemis II, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, is set to launch atop SLS on its second flight no later than April 2026 on a mission to fly around, but not land on, the moon. A lunar landing mission is supposed to come with Artemis III, slated to fly by summer 2027, but it still needs a working version of Starship to act as the human landing system. Artemis IV and V are on the roadmap for 2028 and 2029, but the use of SLS was targeted for elimination in President Trump's proposed NASA budget for fiscal year 2026. The budget seeks to switch to a commercial provider to achieve the Artemis program goals of a sustained lunar presence and push on to send the first humans to Mars. Sen. Ted Cruz, though, countered the budget proposal with a call to restore funding at least through Artemis V, including saving the Gateway lunar space station that was also targeted for demise by the Trump budget proposal. So while the future of Artemis may shift, L3Harris will continue to build engines for which it has contracts. Manufacturing of the RS-25s happens in California. The newly manufactured engines cost 30% less than those produced and refurbished for the shuttle program, according to L3Harris, using updated processes such as 3D printing. A test version of the new engine design went through a 12-step certification series completed last year to pave the way for operational engine production. NASA has already ordered up to 24 of the new engines on top of the 16 refurbished shuttle-era engines that would support flights through the ninth Artemis. The order totals $3.5 billion, which is about $145 million per engine. Each engine will get tested at NASA's Stennis before it gets sent to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where the core stage is manufactured by Boeing. Starting with Artemis III, the core stage parts will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center for final assembly. 'The second Artemis V engine is slated to hot-fire later this year, with the other two engines set to be hot-fired next year,' said an L3Harris spokesperson. L3Harris also produces the single RL-10 engines used on both the upper stages of Artemis I-III, but also the proposed more powerful European Upper Stage, which would use four RL-10 engines for Artemis IV and beyond. Those engines are manufactured at the company's West Palm Beach facilities, which have been building and testing rocket engines for more than 60 years. 'Our propulsion technology is key to ensuring the United States leads in lunar exploration, creates a sustained presence on the moon and does not cede this strategic frontier to other nations,' Houston said.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA completes full-duration 'hot fire' test of new RS-25 engine
June 23 (UPI) -- NASA fired up a full-duration test of its new RS-25 engine that will power the Space Launch System rocket on Artemis missions to the moon, the space agency announced Monday. NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 on Friday at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center at Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. The full-duration "hot fire" test was the first since NASA completed certification testing for new production RS-25 engines last year. The engine, built by contractor L3Harris Technologies -- formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne -- was fired up for nearly eight-and-a-half minutes. That is the same amount of time it would take four RS-25 engines to launch an SLS rocket, sending astronauts aboard the Orion into orbit. The engine was also fired up to the 111% power level to test its limits. The test was conducted by a team from NASA, L3Harris and Syncom Space Services, which is the contractor for site facilities. All RS-25 engines are being tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis after the space agency completed its RS-25 certification test series in April 2024. "The newly produced engines on future SLS rockets will maintain the high reliability and safe flight operational legacy the RS-25 is known for while enabling more affordable high-performance engines for the next era of deep space exploration," Johnny Heflin, SLS liquid engines manager, said last year. The RS-25 engine dates back to the 1960s, with a previous iteration of Rocketdyne from the 1970s. NASA's first space shuttle flight used RS-25 engines to launch in April 1981. It will take four RS-25 engines, producing a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, to launch the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. NASA is targeting the first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis II, for April 2026. It will be the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. During Artemis II, four astronauts will make a trip around the moon. Artemis III will include a lunar landing, which is currently scheduled for 2027.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
FAA says Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center experiencing telecommunications issue
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center in Florida is experiencing a telecommunications issue that has resulted in a loss of radar, frequencies, and automation equipment. The center continues to operate, according to the agency, which added that there is no loss of critical air traffic services due to the redundancies in both the equipment and telecommunications. The FAA said L3Harris and the local exchange providers have engaged and have initially identified the source of the outage as a fiber cut in Florida. It added that a local exchange carrier is on site and working to repair the issue. The center is responsible for 160,000 square miles (414,400 sq km) of airspace and covers parts of five states, including Florida and Georgia, according to the FAA.
