Boeing Tests Commercial Crew Spacecraft Orbital Engine
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Boeing recently demonstrated and tested propulsion features on an orbital control engine for the company’s commercial crew spacecraft, the company announced Wednesday.
Tests occurred at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, part of the second phase of the agency’s Commercial Crew Development program.
The company used space shuttle program equipment to assess the orbiter reaction control system engines.
Two prototypes were put through a series of exhibition firings to test durability.
Boeing said the engines were modified in order to withstand the extra burn time the Crew Space Transportation-100 spacecraft produces.
The series consisted of 20 engine firing sequences with different levels of pulses and durations in order to measure the strength, sturdiness and performance of both the engine and valve.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne manufactured the OMAC heritage hypergolic propellant engine.
The reusable CST-100 will provide commercial crew transportation services within the low Earth orbit and provide access to the International Space Station in 2016, according to the company.
Service module propellant tank tests and a forward heat-shield jettison test are among remaining tests to be completed, the company said.
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