NASA Dumps SSMEs for New Launcher

Reuters is reporting that NASA will use existing rocket engines for it's Heavy Lift vehicle rather than try to modify the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) as originally planned. This leaves a modified Space Shuttle external tank and modified, five-segment SRBs the only legacy of shuttle technology to be used in the new launcher. The Heavy Lift is slated to be a Saturn 5 class vehicle to be used for manned lunar and eventually martian missions. It will be cargo-only. The manned Crew Exploration Vehicle will be launched on yet another new launcher that uses an SRB as the first stage.

"NASA is dumping plans for a throwaway version of the space shuttle’s main engines for its planned cargo launcher and will instead buy existing rocket engines used on the Boeing Co.’s Delta 4 boosters, space agency officials confirmed Tuesday.

Both the shuttle’s main engines and the RS-68 motors that power Boeing’s Delta rockets are made by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies Corp. that is based in Canoga Park, Calif. Reports about the plan to go with the RS-68 engines first came to light last month.

NASA estimates the cost of buying the Delta motors for its heavy-lift cargo launcher will be about $20 million per engine — half the price of a revamped shuttle main engine. The price is based on a flight rate of two launches per year."