SpaceDev, developer of the engine for Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne suborbital spaceplane, has been awarded $1.5 million by the US Air Force to continue development of a new four-stage small launch vehicle.
The award will fund the building and hot-fire testing of SpaceDev's hybrid rocket motor, intended as the second stage of a launch vehicle designed to carry a 450kg (1,000lb) payload to low-Earth orbit. The motor uses a combination of solid fuel and liquid oxidiser and is designed to be throttled, shut down and restarted.
The hybrid motor in SpaceShipOne uses a type of rubber as the solid fuel and nitrous oxide as the gaseous oxidiser, but can only be switched on and off. The new engine will use 1,800kg of propellant and is substantially larger than the SpaceShipOne motor.
The second-stage hybrid rocket motor is intended for use in two of three small expendable launch vehicles SpaceDev is developing - one a three-stage vehicle designed to be air-launched from a Boeing C-17.
ROB COPPINGER / LONDON
Source: Flight International
