To the Moon and Beyond with Additive Manufacturing

Aerojet Rocketdyne uses metal 3D printing technology from Velo3D to make a critical flight component lighter, smaller, and much less expensive.

Industry Invited to Participate in AeroTech Aerospace and Defense Technical Program

SAE International is inviting global participation in its AeroTech® aerospace and defense technology conference and exhibition, which is for the first...

Rocket Engine Technology

This effort will mark the first representative flight of an aerospike engine after many decades of research and abandoned flight efforts.

OmegA Rocket Sustains Explosion During First Static Test, Northrop Grumman Maintains Test Was a Success

Northrop Grumman Corporation completed the first static or “stationary,” full-scale test of its next-generation OmegA space...

ULA Selects Blue Origin Advanced Booster Engine for Vulcan Centaur Rocket System

Engineers at United Launch Alliance (ULA), provider of spacecraft launch services to the US government, in Centennial, Colo., have selected the BE-4 engine...

Soyuz MS-10 Launch Abort Prompts Investigation into Booster Anomaly

NASA officials in Washington are pledging to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of an anomaly with a rocket booster on the Soyuz MS-10 manned spacecraft,...

NASA Selects Frontier Aerospace to Continue Development of New Deep Space Thruster

NASA’s Space Technology and Mission Directorate (STMD) awarded Simi Valley, Calif.’s Frontier Aerospace Corporation with “Tipping Point” funding to...

How Additive Manufacturing is Changing the Aerospace Industry

Additive manufacturing was invented more than 30 years ago and, from small beginnings in prototyping, has developed and grown into a $6 billion industry. While additive...

On-Orbit Satellite Refueling Flow Measurement

Over 7000 satellites have been placed in Earth-orbit since the beginning of the space age. 3000 are currently in orbit, of which 1000 are active, making our near space neighborhood a...

Combustion Characteristics of Hydrocarbon Droplets Induced by Photoignition of Aluminum Nanoparticles

In the study of combustion characteristics of liquid rocket fuels, it is customary to either study the combustion of liquid fuel droplets...

Electric Rockets and the Future of Satellite Propulsion

Humans have been using rocket propulsion for almost a millennium, starting with Chinese rockets and “fire arrows” in the 13th century and continuing to the modern era's powerful...

Lifting 3D Printing to New Heights

Whether it’s through 3D printing jet engine fuel nozzles by the thousands or validating metal rocket injectors for space flight, aerospace has consistently proven itself to be on the cutting edge of the...

3-D Manufacturing of Titanium Components Takes Off

With such challenges as base closings, shrinking defense budgets, and sequestration, the worldwide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector is projected to experience a significant...

The Future of Space Propulsion

Significant challenges and advances in space propulsion have occurred over the past ten years. The end of the Cold War had significant impacts, both positive and negative. Operational systems now have to operate...

Thrust-Augmented Nozzles for Rocket Engines

The thrust-augmented nozzle (TAN) has been invented as a means of obtaining high performance from a rocket engine both during liftoff at sea-level atmospheric pressure and later during flight under...

Thermal Design and Analysis of a Rocket-Engine TAN Injector

A subscale thrust-augmented-nozzle (TAN) rocket engine was designed, built, and hot-fire tested to demonstrate the validity of the TAN concept. As described in more detail in the...

Geopolymers

The use of ceramics in an ancient culture is one measure of that society's overall technical sophistication. Combining the study of ancient ceramics with modern science and technology has led to the creation of new ceramics with...

Super-High-Strength Aluminum Alloy

AFRL researchers developed a super-high-strength aluminum alloy that engineers can use to improve the capability and performance of aerospace components—cryogenic rocket engine components, in particular....