Diffusion bonded small scale turbomachinery? You mean like this:
After Falcon Heavy demonstrated it is at least feasible to launch a vehicle with 27 engines, it would be interesting to see if clusters of Ripley and Hadley engines would enable a medium lift ELV or RLV. Something on the order of ~3 meters wide and carbon fiber tanks. Both engines are staged combustion so would be relatively efficient. Obviously this would be less mass efficient than fewer larger engines, but larger engines are really expensive and take a long time to develop. Particularly for an RLV, it could be preferable for a new company to skip developing its own engines and perfect launch and recovery of the booster.
The first generation engines ( Hadley & Ripley ) look like they were aiming for the small launcher market, which does not seem to be working out for them. Are they nimble enough to offer engines for lunar lander or upper stage propulsion?
The only US "market leader" not vertically integrated into propulsion is ULA, & the ULA fit makes sense for what they need on Vulcan's upper stage.
Quote from: Stan-1967 on 10/08/2019 05:09 amThe only US "market leader" not vertically integrated into propulsion is ULA, & the ULA fit makes sense for what they need on Vulcan's upper stage.I wouldn't go quite that far. NG is developing OmegA, and it intends to use a LOX/LH2 upper stage with engines procured from a third party. I'm not sure if they've baselined someone yet (BE-3U or RL-10), or if they're still open to new providers. But for either NG or ULA, Samus could be a good upgrade if Ursa Major can both a) make it work reliably, b) get competitive performance, and c) deliver a competitive price.~Jon
Until now (or rather, until Ursa have finished engines to sell), vertical integration was the only real option for skmallsat launchers. Now, a smallsat launch company has the option to bid for investment in making their own engines, but get the first few launches done with Ursa-supplied engines. Rockets are not legos, but shortcutting your rivals development time by getting a rocket to orbit in the time it takes to develop tanks and avionics vs. the time to do that plus develop one or more motors may be worth it to survive long enough to develop your own engine.
Quote from: jongoff on 10/08/2019 09:52 pmQuote from: Stan-1967 on 10/08/2019 05:09 amThe only US "market leader" not vertically integrated into propulsion is ULA, & the ULA fit makes sense for what they need on Vulcan's upper stage.I wouldn't go quite that far. NG is developing OmegA, and it intends to use a LOX/LH2 upper stage with engines procured from a third party. I'm not sure if they've baselined someone yet (BE-3U or RL-10), or if they're still open to new providers. But for either NG or ULA, Samus could be a good upgrade if Ursa Major can both a) make it work reliably, b) get competitive performance, and c) deliver a competitive price.~JonOmegA contracted AR for the RL-10C-5 subfamily (RL-10C-5-0 baseline with continuous improvement increments with RL-60 (expected designation AR-60) being an upgrade path although there are hints that a modern RL10 family successor is likely). ULA would likely have to go to 4 RL10C-X's on its upgrade path but they would rather have a single engine as an upgrade option. RL-60 would keep them at 2 engines
Today Ursa tweeted picture of 3xHadley crated and ready for shipping. I think they are for Orbital which are using them in X-60A. No mention of recovery so assume it is expendable, which is good for Ursa.https://www.janes.com/article/94285/afrl-delays-first-x-60a-flight
X-60A DESCRIPTIONFormerly known as the GOLauncher 1, the X-60A is an affordable air-dropped single-stage rocket powered test platform. The X-60A’s LOX/kerosene liquid propulsion system maximizes performance and mission flexibility compared to traditional solid booster solutions. A small delta wing increases the overall maneuverability of the platform. The X-60A is an expendable research platform with an onboard flight telemetry system for research data capture. The X-60A vehicle will be capable of flying several flight profiles of interest to the high-speed flight test community. In dash mode, the X-60A will be capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 5 – 8 with a test payload attached. The vehicle will also be capable of flying alternate test profiles depending on research requirements. The program’s goal is to develop and operate a low-cost platform that provides regular access to hypersonic flight conditions. The X-60A is not a space launch platform and cannot deliver payloads to orbit.