They probably don't want to be too dependent on Blue Origin for both engines. But now they are stuck with Aerojet Rocketdyne instead. And have to fly multiple RL-10's on every Vulcan flight. I sure hope they got a good price on those engines in the contract.
This partnership is a long-term agreement for Aerojet Rocketdyne to provide upper stage propulsion for the next decade. As part of this partnership, Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide RL10s and develop the RL10C-X, the next generation of the RL10 family. The RL10C-X will increase the use of additive manufacturing and introduce other advanced technologies to improve the quality, reliability, affordability and performance.
Quote from: Lars-J on 05/11/2018 07:57 pmThey probably don't want to be too dependent on Blue Origin for both engines. But now they are stuck with Aerojet Rocketdyne instead. And have to fly multiple RL-10's on every Vulcan flight. I sure hope they got a good price on those engines in the contract.Well, Tory did say price and delivery schedule were the two driving reasons for sticking with RL-10, so I'm assuming they got a good deal. I've heard from enough players who said they were surprised with how aggressive AJR was pushing on trying to make RL-10 cost competitive. ~Jon
Quote from: jongoff on 05/14/2018 07:43 pmQuote from: Lars-J on 05/11/2018 07:57 pmThey probably don't want to be too dependent on Blue Origin for both engines. But now they are stuck with Aerojet Rocketdyne instead. And have to fly multiple RL-10's on every Vulcan flight. I sure hope they got a good price on those engines in the contract.Well, Tory did say price and delivery schedule were the two driving reasons for sticking with RL-10, so I'm assuming they got a good deal. I've heard from enough players who said they were surprised with how aggressive AJR was pushing on trying to make RL-10 cost competitive. ~JonI suppose production rate does wonders for pricing. Their production rate must have been almost down in the ~10/year range, but now they might be looking at 40-50 (or more) per year in the near future.
I suppose production rate does wonders for pricing. Their production rate must have been almost down in the ~10/year range, but now they might be looking at 40-50 (or more) per year in the near future.
I've done an extensive Google search on specifications for the RL-10CX engine and have come up with nothing. Does anyone have info on it's thrust, specific impulse and engine mass targets?
Also having a situation where your customer has legitimate alternatives, so you have to work your butt off to not lose them probably also does wonders for focusing the mind. When AJR had a monopoly relationship with ULA upper stage engines, they didn't have a lot of pressure to push them to reinvest in lower cost production. But with Centaur V/ACES the stage is big enough that BE-3U and other options are legitimate alternatives, so they had to actually compete.IMO,~Jon
TBH I'm amazed it's taken the Europeans (or anyone else) this long to come up with an LH2 expander cycle engine, given that better materials exist and H2 lubrication is no longer a black art.
As mentioned before domestic competition must be a major reason to reduce RL10 cost. If ARJ wants to stay in the upper stage engine business they have to deliver competitive prices. Apparently they can do so, and still make profit. (ULA has to meet price targets with Vulcan and can't afford to overpay.)
The 3-D printed RL10 copper thrust chamber would replace the current RL10C-1 model design that uses a very complex array of drawn, hydroformed stainless steel tubes that are brazed together to form a thrust chamber. The new chamber design is made up of only two primary copper parts and takes just under a month to print using SLM technology; reducing overall lead time by several months. The part count reduction of greater than 90 percent is significant as it reduces complexity and cost when compared with RL10 thrust chambers that are built today using traditional manufacturing techniques.
Something I found in the ARJ site about the initial tests they were doing with 3d printing the RL10 thrust chamber. 90% part reduction and going from several months to less than one sound pretty signifigant cost wise.http://www.rocket.com/article/aerojet-rocketdyne-achieves-3-d-printing-milestone-successful-testing-full-scale-rl10-copperA small extract.QuoteThe 3-D printed RL10 copper thrust chamber would replace the current RL10C-1 model design that uses a very complex array of drawn, hydroformed stainless steel tubes that are brazed together to form a thrust chamber. The new chamber design is made up of only two primary copper parts and takes just under a month to print using SLM technology; reducing overall lead time by several months. The part count reduction of greater than 90 percent is significant as it reduces complexity and cost when compared with RL10 thrust chambers that are built today using traditional manufacturing techniques.
Good that the industry leader is finally catching up and planning use of modern manufacturing technology.
That ARJ article is over a year old. (April 2017)I really doubt that Blue needs engine sales. Their engine department on the other hand must love them.Getting the BE-4 selected by ULA will be cool but that saga has way too much "The Russians are coming!" politics in it.OTOH developing a engine (BE-3) and then outcompeting and ousting the venerable RL10 with it? That would be a week long party for everyone involved.
I really doubt that Blue needs engine sales.