WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman test-fired a new solid rocket motor that marks the beginning of an annual test campaign to demonstrate advanced technologies that could be incorporated into space and defense programs.
The company conducted a static fire of the motor Dec. 7 at its Promontory, Utah, facility. The motor fired for about half a minute in the test, which Northrop declared to be a success.
The test is the first of a new company initiative called Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology Demonstrator, or SMART Demo. The goal of the program is to be able to rapidly develop and demonstrate new technologies that can support a range of programs.
“In less than one year, this team designed, developed and are qualifying these new technologies,” Wendy Williams, vice president of propulsion systems at Northrop Grumman, in a call with reporters shortly before the test.
The motor incorporates several new technologies, explained Ben Case, principal investigator for SMART Demo at Northrop. They include a new low-cost propellant able to operate across a wide range of temperatures as well as several components that were additively manufactured, such as a titanium structure in the nozzle. Using additive manufacturing, he said, can reduce lead times for those components by up to 75%.
Northrop also used the test to qualify materials in the nozzle from alternative suppliers. “These alternate suppliers stand to augment our supply chain,” he said, “and that will help to meet the demand of our growing business.”
That growing business includes ramping up production of the GEM 63XL solid rocket motor that will be used by United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. Northrop also produces the large solid rocket motors for NASA’s Space Launch System and is starting work with NASA on the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) program to develop new solid rocket boosters for SLS starting with Artemis 9 in the 2030s.
Williams noted…
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