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Found an interesting development on rocket engines, this may perhaps lead to lower costs if it pans out as they hope-
A new rocket propulsion technology demonstration has marked an important milestone, achieving “mainstage” or constant full-power performance for the first time. Called the Integrated Powerhead Demonstration, or IPD, this development project combines the very latest in rocket engine propulsion technologies. To date, the IPD has conducted 21 of 26 tests and accumulated 300 seconds of operation, up to 100 percent power level at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi.
The IPD is being developed through the combined efforts of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a business unit of United Technologies Corp. [NYSE:UTX], Aerojet, and NASA’s Stennis Space Center, under program direction by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and technical direction of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Its technologies are directed at achieving the goals of the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) program and NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP).
Capable of generating about 250,000 pounds of thrust, the demonstrator uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in a first U.S. demonstration of a full-flow, staged-combustion (FFSC) cycle. The FFSC cycle uses a fuel-rich pre-burner to drive the fuel turbopump, and an oxidizer-rich pre-burner to drive the oxygen turbopump. Because all of the propellants in the pre-burners are burned, more mass flow is available to drive the turbines than in a conventional staged combustion cycle.
This additional power enables lower turbine temperatures, which translates into longer turbine life, a key factor in reusable engine life. Also, the use of oxidizer-rich gas in the oxidizer turbine and fuel-rich gas in the fuel turbine eliminates the need for a complex propellant seal for the pumps, and means lower risk of leaking liquid fuel into a fuel-rich gas or liquid oxygen into an oxidizer-rich gas, thus increasing engine system reliability. The turbopumps also employ hydrostatic bearings, eliminating wear and enabling high reusability.
You can read the rest here- http://www.pratt-whitney.com/pr_071906.asp
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The IPD engine would be nice for an RLV and lower its operating/insurance costs and risk slightly, but the engine isn't good for anything else and the engines are only a portion of an RLVs cost. A true medium-lift RLV would still cost well in excess of ten billion I'm sure.
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]
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Probably closer to 20-50 billion.
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