Haot said that, under current schedules, their vehicle will make a first test flight in 2025 and enter commercial service in 2026. The vehicle has a “conservative” target of placing 300 kilograms into a 200 kilometer orbit.
Haot said he believes that focusing on performance, rather than rushing into the market with another small launch vehicle, is a better strategy. “We have a very long-term view, 10 to 20 years,” he said. “We don’t believe that the people that got there a few years before will be the winners. We believe that the ones operating with the highest margin will be the winner.”
2024 first test flight target. Commercial/profitable by end of 2026.
How do you foresee Rocket-1 competing with a small LV industry populated by mature rockets like Electron/Terran/RS-1/LauncherOne? If Rocket Lab is to be believed, individual Electron missions are priced under $10M *already* and cadence aspirations would bring > economies of scale
Launcher's thesis is that performance-driven design will win over first to market. Same rocket cost and mass -> Less propellant -> more payload -> More revenue potential per launch OR ability to reduce the price to grab market share.
Updated Rocket-1 spec/target below - 775 kg to 200 km. Same total rocket mass. Engine performance target increased, vehicle mass budget and un-used propellant assumptions slightly more aggressive. It might take a few flights to get there.
MILESTONE: Liquid oxygen regenerative cooling proven on our E-1 rocket engine (3D printed in copper alloy). Made by @3TRPD on @EOSNorthAmerica @EOSGmbH M290.LOX cooling benefits include (a) The ability to use both propellants for cooling in E-2 - thereby increasing coolant budget (b) Larger cooling channels making DMLS powder removal easier (c) Improved injector mixing and resulting improved performance thanks to gaseous oxygen.Typical regen cooling uses fuel such as kerosene/RP-1. @NASA and Energia have tested LOX cooling and released papers confirming the benefits - but no known production engine uses it yet.This photo was captured during an oxygen rich transient. It demonstrates the cleaner exhaust of E1-LOXCOOL725 when compared to our previous E-1 version/injector. Video to be released on Monday.
New website update: https://launcherspace.com/Few interesting points:1) They have 4 engines on the first stage and one on the second, all at the same nominal thrust. This is certainly different from the 9/1 ratio you see on the Rocket Lab Electron and SpaceX Falcon 9. This probably explains why the apparent staging ratio seems so off. The vehicle acceleration at SECO has got to be pretty high.2) They continue to share probably more than they should and have published the state-point diagram in both SI and US Customary units.3) They're doing ox-rich stage combustion with an LOx-cooled chamber. Material properties are going to clutch here.4) The two stage fuel pump is pretty uncommon for an RP-1 engine. The second stage only gets 3.5% of the main flow and is primary for the pre-burner with a tapoff leg, probably for trim control or propellant utilization. Normally they would pump up all the fuel to the same pressure and orifice it down. This approach is more efficient, but it does make the turbopump harder.5) Depending on the shaft speed of the pump, the 20 psi inlet pressure is sporty. Same with the 60 psi at -290F (instead of fully saturated at -297F.6) "Licensed orbit-proven liquid oxygen pump design". They're too small for most of the "old space" stuff, and anything from SpaceX and Rocket Lab. "Orbit-proven" nixes Ursa-Major. Maybe something through a partnership with AFRL?With points #4 and #5, combined with the ox-rich turbine, that is a *hard* turbopump, particularly for your first engine. They've done great things with their (subscale) combustor so I don't want to count them out.
This is likely a born out of Ukraine project. The website has grammar and style mistakes indicative of translation although it has been polished a bit so not a machine translation job.
More 💎💎💎🚀. To further reduce the cost of 3D printing our highest performance copper alloy engines - we more than doubled the powder layer thickness and as a result sped up the 3D printing time by more than 2X. Made possible by AMCM and @3t_am_ltd on an @EOSGmbH 3D printer.
In this test last week, we proved that with this new process, we can reach the highest performance mix ratio (2.62) at 98%+ efficiency.
Nice Engine!https://twitter.com/launcher/status/1193724586879340546
The first public opening to join the @launcher team: Propulsion Test Engineer to help us build and test the Launcher E-2 liquid 🚀 engine. Apply: linkedin.com/jobs/view/1645… #propulsion
ANNOUNCEMENT: Launcher has signed a Space Act Agreement with @NASAStennis to locate our full-scale test fire facility at Stennis. The first campaign is expected this summer as part of our @AF_SBIR_STTR contract to test-fire our 22k lbf thrust E-2 engine.
The test stand frame for Launcher E-2 is ready to be powder coated. Thanks to our partner millermetal.com for their great work.
https://twitter.com/launcher/status/1250149968754638848Quote ANNOUNCEMENT: Launcher has signed a Space Act Agreement with @NASAStennis to locate our full-scale test fire facility at Stennis. The first campaign is expected this summer as part of our @AF_SBIR_STTR contract to test-fire our 22k lbf thrust E-2 engine.
What are those blocks they're using for blast protection?
Launcher E-2 - the world largest single part 3D printed combustion chamber is ready for nitrogen, liquid nitrogen and water cleaning followed by a water cold flow session.
This week we have also started the E-2 🚀 engine combustion chamber and injector heat treatment processes at our partner Accurate Brazing (accuratebrazing.com). Step 1: Stress relief in a vacuum furnace. Next : Cut the chamber off the plate by wire edm followed by HIP.
The Launcher E-2 3D printed 🚀 engine combustion chamber is back home at @Newlab - Next steps: complete taps with @FlexArmInc, machining the flange, cooling channels chemical etching and polishing the inner wall.
Now the company is ready to move on to the next stage: avionics, and to do so, having established a valid and credible proposition, it was able to attract NASA JPL & SpaceX veterans Kevin Watson and Rich Petras.
Are all those propellant ports NPT? I'm estimating they're about 2" NPT. In the photo where it's still copper, they've got NPT to Quick-Clamp flanges (like these on McMaster-Carr).
Launcher’s first ever E-2 🚀 engine turbo pump hardware arrived. 3D printed in Inconel 718 on @Velo_3D machine by @Protolabs 🙏. Discharge pressure of 4,130 psi (285 bar) for oxidizer rich staged combustion. Design heritage licensed by Launcher and proven 70+ times to orbit.
Successful test of our E-2 🚀 engine igniter - an important milestone in preparation to our E-2 test campaign.
A challenging design as our GOX/Kerosene igniter nozzle reaches nearly 1,800F while traversing our liquid oxygen dome. This test proved that we could run the igniter for five seconds, while having 1,200psi liquid oxygen in the dome (behind this mockup injector plate shown)
We were happy to confirm during repeated tests that no oxygen/heat/pressure related explosion occurred.
Launcher E-2 3D printed copper alloy combustion chamber polishing done ✅. One step closer to its first test fire 🔥 🚀. Next step - shipping to @NASAStennis
Launcher E-2 liquid 🚀 engine thrust chamber assembly in position at @nasastennis. Getting ready for LN2 cold flow tomorrow morning. E-2 is the world’s largest single-part 3D printed combustion chamber.
ORSC but this first test campaign is pressure fed.
Launcher E-2 test stand activation and LN2 cold flow testing started today at @NASAStennis . We can’t wait for the 🔥version.
Launcher E-2 - 22.000-lbf thrust 3D printed liquid 🚀 engine (kerolox). Fully plumbed on its test stand at @nasastennis. Actual first stage nozzle size and expansion ratio. Test fire getting very close.
[...] They continue to share probably more than they should and have published the state-point diagram [...]
Launcher E-2 is born at @NASAStennis - More soon!
Photos by @johnkrausphotos of our first ever Launcher E-2 🚀 engine ignition (3 sec ‘burp’) at @NASAStennis yesterday. Great result, the hardware passed the test and is ready for test #2 next week.
In the next two weeks, we will build up duration and then replace the heat sink chamber used in this test with the actual world largest 3D printed single piece combustion chamber (with actual flight size nozzle).
Successful Launcher E-2 test #2 (2s burp). Next step: Replace the heat sink chamber with the 3D printed thrust chamber assembly and test. Stay tuned! 🚀🔥
This is exciting. Anyone know of any other printer copper chambers in testing before this?
A new photo by me for @launcher — The first test fire of the full E-2 thrust chamber assembly, with a flight-sized nozzle, conducted last month at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.Read + see more in @arstechnica’s feature:
Meet Launcher, the rocket engine builder with just eight employeesThe company is making progress, completing a series of component tests in October.by Eric Berger - Nov 9, 2020 2:40pm GMTMax Haot is not your typical rocket scientist, and Launcher is not your typical rocket company.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/11/meet-launcher-a-company-building-a-rocket-engine-with-eight-employees/QuoteMeet Launcher, the rocket engine builder with just eight employeesThe company is making progress, completing a series of component tests in October.by Eric Berger - Nov 9, 2020 2:40pm GMTMax Haot is not your typical rocket scientist, and Launcher is not your typical rocket company.
In 2019, the company built and tested a small prototype engine, "E-1." This was largely successful, so last month, the company took the first components of its E-2 engine to a test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. During the first two series of tests, Launcher proved that the test stand and its fuel injector, which mixes liquid oxygen and kerosene, performed well. The third test was to assess performance of the engine's 3D printed combustion chamber, where the fuels burn. This test did not go as well because three of the regenerative cooling channels were clogged and the chamber overheated.
Launcher E-2 test fire #3 on Oct. 23, 2020 at @NASAStennis (3D printed in Copper alloy, 22k-lbf thrust LOX/RP1 liquid 🚀 engine). Featuring a full scale engine nozzle for flight (First stage). Made possible with support from @DoDSpaceForce @AF_SBIR_STTR @AFWERX SBIR award.
Up next at Launcher: E-2 LOX pump and turbine unit test (being developed in parallel).
Our new Launcher E-2 liquid 🚀 engine test stand at @NASAStennis. A key facility and milestone for Launcher in 2020. We can’t wait to resume testing in early 2021 with E-2 combustion chamber SN2 and SN3 on hand.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 11/09/2020 03:32 pmhttps://arstechnica.com/science/2020/11/meet-launcher-a-company-building-a-rocket-engine-with-eight-employees/QuoteMeet Launcher, the rocket engine builder with just eight employeesThe company is making progress, completing a series of component tests in October.by Eric Berger - Nov 9, 2020 2:40pm GMTMax Haot is not your typical rocket scientist, and Launcher is not your typical rocket company.Something I didn't realize from that article back in November, and that I don't see acknowledged here, is that at the end Eric seems to say that Launcher Light will be their first rocket, not Rocket-1. There's even a render.Launcher Light is a concept we first saw on their LV calculator last summer. It uses 1x E-2 engine on the first stage instead of 4, for 149 kg to orbit.
Our first vehicle tank aluminum panel. Launcher is an engine first company - however, now is the time to start in parallel our structures design and manufacturing process development. 🚀
https://twitter.com/launcher/status/1372618087036416002QuoteOur first vehicle tank aluminum panel. Launcher is an engine first company - however, now is the time to start in parallel our structures design and manufacturing process development. 🚀
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/18/2021 08:05 pmhttps://twitter.com/launcher/status/1372618087036416002QuoteOur first vehicle tank aluminum panel. Launcher is an engine first company - however, now is the time to start in parallel our structures design and manufacturing process development. 🚀Orthogrid, rather than hoop-and-stringer? Bold move -- ULA is doing that on Vulcan because it's the absolute highest performance and lowest weight, but it's also quite expensive and hand-crafted: even if the structure itself is CNCed, apparently bending the pieces is a labor-intensive manual process. Doesn't seem like a great choice for a company that wants to reduce the cost of access to space, or which is using a high-performance staged combustion engine to maybe not require everything else be maximally optimized too.
But it's very much in line with the perhaps the core principle of their design philosophy which is, to quote the biggest text on screen when you first enter their site, "Performance will in the small rocket race". Their belief is that a well managed company operating the highest performance and most efficient rocket is going to beat out competitors. I don't know what brought them to that conclusion, but that's their whole thing.
Quote from: JEF_300 on 03/18/2021 09:11 pmBut it's very much in line with the perhaps the core principle of their design philosophy which is, to quote the biggest text on screen when you first enter their site, "Performance will in the small rocket race". Their belief is that a well managed company operating the highest performance and most efficient rocket is going to beat out competitors. I don't know what brought them to that conclusion, but that's their whole thing.It's funny actually, a common thought about "how should you compete against SpaceX?" is "forget short-term profitability, forget about matching where SpaceX is today, build a vehicle which can compete with what SpaceX will have in a decade, and hope that when they get there, you'll have leapfrogged them." In a sense, this is Launcher's philosophy: don't match what the market has now, arrange such that even with years of iterative improvement, your competitors will all be bogged down by their early design decisions that didn't have a proper upgrade path, while you designed for the best version from the get-go.I'm somewhat skeptical that you can get to that ideal, optimal vehicle without years of flying a less-optimized version to truly understand what needs improvement, but it just might be crazy enough to work.
It spins! Launcher E-2 3D printed staged combustion LOX pump is fully assembled and ready to be mated to our turbine for testing at @nasastennis in April.
Specs: 25 kg/s driven by 1MW power, 275 Bar outlet pressure, 30,000 RPM. We have not yet seen anyone in the small launch community attempting a pump spec close to that.
Those fasteners look shiny enough to be 300 series stainless steel. If they are the yield strength is only 30ksi
Not stainless steel - a high-strength alloy is required.
BIG NEWS: We’ve moved to Los Angeles (Hawthorne) and are opening our HQ & Factory
Launcher opens California facility to develop small launch vehicleby Jeff Foust — March 26, 2021WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle company Launcher has moved across the country to California as it takes its next steps in the development of its rocket.Launcher, which had been based in New York City, is in the process of moving into a 24,000-square-foot building it is leasing in Hawthorne, California, a few blocks from the sprawling headquarters of SpaceX.
https://twitter.com/launcher/status/1375454244673753089QuoteBIG NEWS: We’ve moved to Los Angeles (Hawthorne) and are opening our HQ & Factoryhttps://spacenews.com/launcher-opens-california-facility-to-develop-small-launch-vehicle/Quote Launcher opens California facility to develop small launch vehicleby Jeff Foust — March 26, 2021WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle company Launcher has moved across the country to California as it takes its next steps in the development of its rocket.Launcher, which had been based in New York City, is in the process of moving into a 24,000-square-foot building it is leasing in Hawthorne, California, a few blocks from the sprawling headquarters of SpaceX.
https://spacenews.com/launcher-opens-california-facility-to-develop-small-launch-vehicle/Quote from Spacenews article" Launcher, though, is sticking to a schedule that calls for beginning test launches in 2024 and moving into commercial service in 2026, several years after many of its competitors. Haot said he believe the market for small launch vehicles will remain strong for the foreseeable future, and that Launcher will be competitive based on the high efficiency of its E-2 engine."I wish them good luck but think they have uphill battle. By time they enter market in mid 20s the competition will be well established and in lot cases flying RLVs.
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 03/26/2021 07:05 pmhttps://spacenews.com/launcher-opens-california-facility-to-develop-small-launch-vehicle/Quote from Spacenews article" Launcher, though, is sticking to a schedule that calls for beginning test launches in 2024 and moving into commercial service in 2026, several years after many of its competitors. Haot said he believe the market for small launch vehicles will remain strong for the foreseeable future, and that Launcher will be competitive based on the high efficiency of its E-2 engine."I wish them good luck but think they have uphill battle. By time they enter market in mid 20s the competition will be well established and in lot cases flying RLVs.Their one advantage is extremely low headcount -- at present, just 20 people, 10 of whom are in Ukraine. So maybe they can survive long enough to actually reach launch purely on the virtue of "not running out of money." Although, in this article their CEO described their recent Series A round as "not enough to get us to orbit," so not spending too much money will apparently need to be coupled with "bringing in more money." If there's a "winnowing" of the launch market between now and 2024, that might become increasingly difficult.Side-note: is their "Launcher Light" vehicle going to have one E-2 engine on its first stage and also one E-2 engine on its second stage? That would be a very unusual architecture, to my knowledge; I thought having a second stage with 11% or less the thrust of the first stage was much more common.
One E-2 on the first stage, and pressure fed engines on the upper stages. Apparently, it will be a 3 stage rocket, which I suppose could make sense if you're going super tiny and expendable.
One thing that sticks out to me about these guys is that if you go on linkedin their entire propulsion design office is in Ukraine. They are hiring for hardware/manufacturing/test type engineers in Hawthorne but it appears that most design/analysis activities are taking place in Ukraine.
Quote from: raspera on 04/14/2021 07:53 pmOne thing that sticks out to me about these guys is that if you go on linkedin their entire propulsion design office is in Ukraine. They are hiring for hardware/manufacturing/test type engineers in Hawthorne but it appears that most design/analysis activities are taking place in Ukraine. Does it appear that way? Because I was under the impression that all their Ukrainian personnel were living and working in the US.
Quote from: JEF_300 on 04/14/2021 10:19 pmQuote from: raspera on 04/14/2021 07:53 pmOne thing that sticks out to me about these guys is that if you go on linkedin their entire propulsion design office is in Ukraine. They are hiring for hardware/manufacturing/test type engineers in Hawthorne but it appears that most design/analysis activities are taking place in Ukraine. Does it appear that way? Because I was under the impression that all their Ukrainian personnel were living and working in the US.If you go to their website (https://launcherspace.com/contact) they say they have a fully owned subsidiary in Dnipro Ukraine. It says:'Our team of engineers employed full-time at Launcher Ukraine LLC is permitted to contribute to our Launcher E-2 engine design and analysis with the support of a U.S. State Department-approved Technology Assistance Agreement.'
If you enjoyed last week’s 10 sec, 10% power E-2 LOX turbopump test video, here’s our drop of the full duration (2 minutes) 100% power successful test of the same turbopump 🚀🚀🚀🌀🌀🌀
MILESTONE: Our first tool in our new HQ Factory is operational. Cutting Launcher E-2 🚀 engine combustion chamber off its 3D printer build plate. Touch-less precision metal cutting by electrical sparks⚡️⚡️⚡️— in water. EDM wire machine by @SodickUSA
In 2017, the industry needed a 3D printing breakthrough to print larger liquid rocket engines. To meet the challenge, we partnered with AMCM to create the M 4K 3D printer for printing our E-2 liquid 🚀 engine chamber as a single part in copper alloy. https://amcm.com/news/2021-05-18-launcher-acquires-amcm-m-4k-am-system
We now purchased the printer system so that we can 3D print the Launcher E-2 rocket engine ourselves at our new Launcher HQ in Hawthorne, CA.
I guess my main question continues to be how they're going to fair when they actually hit the market. Sure, they'll have the best payload ratio in class; so what? Are low dev costs and efficiency really going to be enough to compete with the extremely low prices that Astra is gunning for and that reusable smallsat launchers like Electron may be able to achieve?
Launcher to develop orbital transfer vehicleby Jeff Foust — June 15, 2021WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle company Launcher announced June 15 that it is also working on an orbital transfer vehicle for small satellites that it plans to use on both its own rocket as well as SpaceX’s Falcon 9.Launcher, which announced a $11.7 million funding round June 2, said its Orbiter tug will be able to carry up to 150 kilograms of payload, either in the form of 90 units worth of cubesat deployers or larger satellites using standard smallsat separation systems.
This is the first part we 3D printed at our new Launcher HQ and Factory: Orbiter propellant tank. @VELO3DMetal
Back in the game - Launcher E-2 3D printed liquid rocket engine is in position for an upcoming test fire at @NASAStennis 🚀
Some more work I did for @launcher, featuring Launcher Light, a dedicated small satellite launch vehicle. Powered by a single Launcher Engine-2 on its first stage, Launcher Light will deliver satellite payloads of up to 150 kg (330 lbs) to low Earth orbit. First launch in 2024.
Check this transparent plume. The first test of our Orbiter engine: Thrust 240-lbf, Propellants: nitrous oxide/ethane gas stored as liquid, self pressurized. Spark igniter. Oxidizer regen cooling in 3D printed inconel chamber. 280s vac ISP target. More to come soon.
A forest of small Rocket engines: Twelve Orbiter combustion chambers off the @VELO3DMetal printer and ready for EDM wire. Testing soon in Mojave. #rapiditeration #3dprinting
E-2 - Making steady progress in developing world’s highest performance liquid 🚀 engine of its class. Goal: lox/rp1, thrust 22k lbf (10tf), mix ratio 2.62, 1400 psi (100 bar) pressure, closed cycle, no throat film cooling, lox cooled, 3D printed. 365s ISP with vac nozzle
🚀🚀🚀 Today’s E-2 test fire at @NASAStennis reaching 8.6 metric ton of thrust (goal 10) at 2.4 o/f ratio (goal 2.62) and 90 bar of pressure (goal 100 bar). Very close to reaching and maybe exceeding our nominal goals in the next test series. #loxcooled #3dprinted
With an incredible team, partners, and a few design iterations - perseverance and focus won once again. We are steps away from demonstrating the world's highest performance combustion chamber of its class - thanks to LOX cooling. And lowest cost thanks to 3D printing.
Launcher E-2 liquid 🚀 engine in position for more testing this week at @NASAStennis. Goal : attempts at reaching nominal highest performance o/f mixture ratio (2.62), pressure (100 bar) and thrust (10tf).
Launcher E-2 3D printed 🚀 engine photos by @johnkrausphotos from today’s performance boost testing. Efficiency increase in action to the point the plume is transparent. We continue to push today with 2-3 more tests at higher mixture ratio.
Launcher wins Space Force contract to support engine developmentby Jeff Foust — May 25, 2022HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Launcher won a $1.7 million contract from the U.S. Space Force that will assist the company’s development of a high-performance rocket engine for its small launch vehicle.
MILESTONE: Orbiter SN1 is ready for vibration testing. This is our first ever spacecraft – designed, manufactured, and integrated at Launcher HQ.
Today, we successfully performed the Orbiter SN1 post vibration testing separation system test ✅
We then confirmed that Orbiter’s satellite bus powered on successfully after separation ✅🛰🚀
Our Launcher E-2 closed cycle 🚀 engine turbopump is ready for testing for the @SpaceForceDoD. 3D printed, 1.4 megawatt of power, 30,000 rpm, one turbine, one lox pump, two kerosene pumps, 320 bar of output pressure in this single shaft small package.
Our Launcher E-2 closed cycle 🚀 engine turbopump is integrated for testing this week at NASA Stennis (for the U.S. Space Force). 3D printed, 1.4 megawatt of power, 30k rpm, one turbine, one lox pump, two kerosene pumps, 320 bar output pressure in a single shaft package.
Launcher awarded U.S. Space Force SpaceWERX Orbital Prime ContractHawthorne, CaliforniaSeptember 30, 2022Launcher has been awarded a Phase 1 STTR under the SpaceWERX Orbital Prime ProgramHAWTHORNE, CA, September 30, 2022 – Launcher, together with their partners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announces it has been selected by SpaceWERX for a STTR Phase I in the amount of $249k to investigate how it’s orbit transfer vehicle, Orbiter, might enable In-space Service Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities being explored by the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and United States Space Force (USSF) through the Orbital Prime program. Orbital Prime was created to accelerate the commercial ISAM market toward a use case of Active Debris Remediation. The Air Force Research Laboratory and SpaceWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through a faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and losing bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering 'The Open Topic' SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now on contract as of 1 September 2022, Launcher will start its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.
Illustration: Orbiter performing an engine burn while holding the target satellite debris to lower its orbit.
Illustration: Orbiter equipped with robotic arm and sensors enabling it to perform In-space Service Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) or Active Debris Remediation.
Illustration: Orbiter on final approach to the missions target satellite debris for Active Debris Remediation.
Launcher Successfully Tests E-2 Engine Turbopump for the U.S. Space ForceHawthorne, CaliforniaOctober 17, 2022In a test campaign at NASA Stennis Space Center, Launcher demonstrated the highest-performance kerosene rocket engine turbopump ever manufactured in the U.S.HAWTHORNE, CA, October 17, 2022 – In the latest test of its E-2 rocket engine for the U.S. Space Force, Launcher demonstrated the highest performance of a kerosene rocket engine turbopump ever manufactured in the United States. The milestone follows Launcher’s successful test-fire demonstrating the highest-performing liquid oxygen & kerosene rocket engine combustion chamber ever built in the United States.Launcher’s E-2 engine is a closed-cycle liquid rocket engine that will power its Light rocket to orbit with a single engine in its first stage. The successful E-2 turbopump tests took place in late September 2022 at NASA Stennis Space Center. The E-2 test team achieved or exceeded all power, input and output pressure, efficiency, and vibration goals over the course of 11 tests, including long duration, cavitation, and boosted flow.The pump assembly used Kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as working fluids. The power for the turbine in this test campaign was high-pressure gaseous nitrogen.This test milestone was formally approved by the U.S. Space Force as part of Launcher’s Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract.To achieve this high-performance milestone, the E-2 turbopump assembly has these specifications and innovations:High pressure: With 330 bar (4,786 psi) of liquid oxygen and fuel output pressure achieved enabling E-2’s high-pressure oxidizer-rich staged combustion engine cycle.Lightweight and compact: the single-shaft turbopump includes a turbine, two fuel pumps (RP-1) and a liquid oxygen pump (LOX).Streamlined turbine design: Novel design achieves industry leading 72% efficiency – surpassing the typical 60% efficiency found on other rocket engine turbopump turbines. High efficiency pumps: This allows E-2 to keep its engine pre-burner at low temperature (200C), thereby lowering the cost of materials and reducing the risk of oxygen flammability, a key challenge in developing oxidizer-rich staged combustion engines. It also provides margin to achieve designed engine thrust levels. Simplified: The turbopump design eliminates the need for a kicker turbine or liquid oxygen booster pump, despite a relatively low input pressure from the rocket propellant tanks.Additively manufactured at Launcher’s facility:Controls the cost and lead time of turbine, housings, rotating inducers, and impellers.Launcher’s E-2 engine performance specification is a critical component in its commitment to build the highest-performing liquid rocket engine of any small launch vehicle worldwide. Performance is key to expanding space access by reducing the propellant needed to reach orbital speed – thus increasing the potential payload mass and revenue-generating capacity of the launch vehicle.As part of the U.S. Space Force’s TACFI contract, Launcher’s next step in E-2 engine development will be pre-burner component testing beginning in November 2022, followed by a long-duration test of the integrated E-2 engine (thrust chamber and turbopump in a closed-cycle) in Q1 2023.“We would like to thank the U.S. Space Force and NASA for their support of innovation and for making Launcher’s latest high-performance records possible,” said Launcher CEO Max Haot. “By achieving our turbopump milestone, Launcher is one step closer to realizing its mission to expand space access.”Launcher is also grateful to our partners, including Velo3D, EOS, and NASA Stennis Space Center for their support and technology enabling the development of our E-2 liquid rocket engine.
Photo: Launcher E-2 Liquid Rocket Engine Turbopump Assembly
E-2 🚀 engine turbopump long duration test video at @NASAStennis ✅
I assume "powered by nitrogen" means that all that test did was see how hard the turbine could pump. It wasn't a test of whether the oxygen-kerosen mixture could power it well and constantly. Am I wrong? Input from those more knowledgeable than I would be appreciated.
E-2 🚀 ENGINE TURBOPUMP TEST VIDEO: Highest performance kerosene turbopump ever manufactured in the 🇺🇸. BLOG POST: launcherspace.com/updates/launch…
🚀 🔊 up - https://www.launcherspace.com/updates/launcher-awarded-u-s-space-force-tacfi-contract-to-develop-its-high-performance-e-2-liquid-rocket-engine
twitter.com/launcher/status/1552801397854203905QuoteToday, we successfully performed the Orbiter SN1 post vibration testing separation system test ✅https://twitter.com/launcher/status/1552801403638231040QuoteWe then confirmed that Orbiter’s satellite bus powered on successfully after separation ✅🛰🚀
Any news about Orbiter SN1?
No updates since Jan 3rd is concerning. Has anything been said anywhere on this?
Space habitat company Vast announces the acquisition of Launcher, for an undisclosed amount:https://vastspace.com/press-releases/vast-acquires-launcher-to-accelerate-growthVast: All of Launcher's employees are joining, with the company to continue development of the Orbiter space tug and hosted payload products, as well as the E-2 rocket engine, but will not continue to develop Launcher's Light rocket.Launcher founder @maxhaot joins as President of Vast.
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1628037760719233025Quote from: Michael SheetzSpace habitat company Vast announces the acquisition of Launcher, for an undisclosed amount:https://vastspace.com/press-releases/vast-acquires-launcher-to-accelerate-growthVast: All of Launcher's employees are joining, with the company to continue development of the Orbiter space tug and hosted payload products, as well as the E-2 rocket engine, but will not continue to develop Launcher's Light rocket.Launcher founder @maxhaot joins as President of Vast.
Apparently SN1 failed to achieve proper orientation and couldn't recharge batteries from its solar panels, and went dead with no further deployments once those batteries discharged.https://spacenews.com/first-launcher-orbital-transfer-vehicle-fails/
Unfortunate to see that their Light LV is dead now. A cool premise, but I don't think there was any real market for it.
Launcher E-2 🚀 Engine Development– Pre-Burner Testing at NASA Stennis Space Center As we build up toward our integrated engine testing, we successfully designed, manufactured, and tested the pre-burner for our E-2 oxidizer-rich staged combustion engine.
We are aiming at the lowest temperature pre-burner due to our highest efficiency turbo-pump, providing ample margin for thrust boost and reducing oxygen flammability risk without the need for exotic coatings/materials (as typically needed in less efficient and higher temperature ORSC engines turbine and pre-burner).
Check out our latest E-2 engine test campaign at @NASAStennis.
Launcher's 2nd spacetug mission SN3 (there wasn't a SN2) has failed due to SW bug.https://www.space.com/orbiter-sn3-space-tug-lost-spacex
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 06/27/2023 04:20 pmLauncher's 2nd spacetug mission SN3 (there wasn't a SN2) has failed due to SW bug.https://www.space.com/orbiter-sn3-space-tug-lost-spacexSh** happens.. especially in space
The E-2 Thrust Chamber Assembly test firing earlier this month at @NASAStennis as we build up towards our fully integrated engine test campaign.
The E-2 team continues Thrust Chamber Assembly testing at the E Complex at @NASAStennis. Fully integrated engine test soon. 🔜🚀
The first fully integrated E-2 engine is ready for shipping to @NASAStennis for our upcoming full engine test campaign later this year. E-2 is a 22,000 lbf (10 tf) thrust LOX/Kerosene oxidizer-rich, staged combustion engine. Stay tuned for updates.
Check out the first fully integrated E-2 engine being installed at @NASAStennis in preparation for our upcoming full engine test campaign later this year. Who's just as excited as we are? ✋
The first fully integrated E-2 engine roars to life for the first time at the historic @NASAStennis on November 16, 2023. This test proved out the engine bootstrap startup transient. The team will continue to work towards long duration testing at nominal parameters in the upcoming weeks.
E-2’s first 90-second test fire was a success! It performed at 55% power with a low conservative 1.6 mixture ratio as planned. The hardware appears in perfect condition ready for more tests. This is an exceptional result for a first test article (E-2 SN1). The test was also a key milestone for our US Space Force TACFI contract.We’ve wrapped up this test campaign and will be back in January with an updated injector featuring lower LOX passage pressure drop to allow us to increase the LOX mass flow and in turn reach full thrust and high performance O/F mixture ratio of 2.62.We thank our team and partners for making this possible - especially @NASAStennis and their team. We would also like to thank the @SpaceForceDoD for their TACFI contract support.
Nominal E-2 thrust and performance achieved. Have you ever seen a blue plume on a kerosene/lox rocket engine 💎💎💎? More to come including the full test video.
Was great to spend some time at NASA’s Stennis Space Center with @launcher (@vast) team yesterday as they tested the fully-integrated E-2 engine for a two-minute burn — blue flame achieved with kerosene!
Incredible and likely unprecedented liquid oxygen-kerosene rocket engine performance achievement by our team this week. Since reaching a blue plume with our 20x smaller E-1 combustion chamber sub-scale tests nearly 5 years ago, we have been dreaming and chasing the day we will achieve it in our full-scale, oxygen-rich closed cycle engine. Standby for video.
Preview: Short duration test of our E-2 22k lbf (10 tf) ORSC LOX/Kerosene liquid 🚀 engine. Nominal pressure (100 bar) and mixture ratio (2.7). Recorded this week at @NASAStennis
Reason why we have a blue plume and not RD-180 - they have throat film cooling given the high mix ratio and limited cooling ability of kerosene. E-2 uses both propellants for cooling which allows us to remove throat film cooling. The film cooling slightly reduces combustion efficiency by adding unburned kerosene which combust in the plume and not in the nozzle. RD-180 still beats E-2’s ISP due to its high combustion pressure of 260 bar vs 100 bar in E-2.
E-2 in slow motion— E-2 is a 22k lbf (10 tf) ORSC LOX/Kerosene liquid 🚀 engine. Recorded last week at @NASAStennis. Standby for the release of a nominal full duration test.
Who has ever seen a LOX/Kerosene liquid 🚀 engine with a blue plume 💎💎💎💎? Not only does it look spectacular, but it also serves as undeniable proof of the 99%+ combustion efficiency achieved in this test.Enjoy this 3-minute, 20-second test of E-2, a mostly 3D-printed 22k lbf (10 tf) ORSC LOX/Kerosene liquid rocket engine. Nominal pressure: 100 bar; mixture ratio: 2.7. Recorded today at @nasastennis, this test also secured the duration record for the test stand. E-2 is now available for sale to launch companies.
Quote Who has ever seen a LOX/Kerosene liquid 🚀 engine with a blue plume 💎💎💎💎? Not only does it look spectacular, but it also serves as undeniable proof of the 99%+ combustion efficiency achieved in this test.Enjoy this 3-minute, 20-second test of E-2, a mostly 3D-printed 22k lbf (10 tf) ORSC LOX/Kerosene liquid rocket engine. Nominal pressure: 100 bar; mixture ratio: 2.7. Recorded today at @nasastennis, this test also secured the duration record for the test stand. E-2 is now available for sale to launch companies.