NASA Awards Contract For Engine Technology Development

NASA has awarded a contract to Aerojet-General of Sacramento, Calif., to design, develop, fabricate, test and evaluate a workhorse rocket engine using liquid oxygen and liquid methane as propellants. Aerojet will work for 21 months from the effective date of the contract to complete an evaluation of the rocket engine assembly, a 5,500 pound constant-thrust, pressure-fed rocket engine.

This cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is valued at approximately $6.9 million. The Exploration Technology Development Program at NASA's Headquarters in Washington is providing the funding. The contract's period of performance begins April 8, 2008.

The objective of this work is to sufficiently increase the maturity of this technology to establish the feasibility of using a liquid oxygen and liquid methane main engine for the ascent stage of the Altair lunar lander.

After visiting the lunar outpost, the crew will lift off from the surface of the moon in Altair's ascent stage and rendezvous with the Orion crew vehicle in lunar orbit for the return trip to Earth.