TIM FURNISS / LONDON
Boeing's RS-68 cryogenic liquid- oxygen/liquid-hydrogen first-stage engine on the first Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) was successfully fired for 5s at the end of a countdown dress rehearsal at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 14 October. The test clears the way for the maiden flight next month of the booster on a commercial mission carrying Eutelsat's W5 communications satellite.
The booster is a Delta IV Medium +4.2 model, one of five in a range that will include a Delta IV Heavy with a 13t to geostationary transfer orbit capability.
The RS-68 is the first new cryogenic first-stage engine built in the USA since the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The firing was designed to prove the rocket, engine, launch pad and software will work successfully together. During the test the RS-68 was brought up to full power at 650,000lb thrust (2,900kN).
Previous Delta IV countdown demonstrations had been thwarted by software glitches.
"We are about to launch a family of rockets that will have a long-term impact on the space launch, telecommunications and defence industries," says Dan Collins, vice-president and programme manager for the Delta boosters.
Source: Flight International
