Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator

The integrated powerhead demonstrator (IPD) was a U.S. Air Force project in the 1990s and early 2000s run by NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop a new rocket engine front-end ("powerhead", sometimes also termed a powerpack) that would utilize a full flow staged combustion cycle (FFSCC). The prime contractors were Rocketdyne and Aerojet.[1]

The long-term design goal was to apply the advantages of FFSCC to create a reusable engine with improved life, reliability and performance. The powerhead demonstrator project was to develop a demonstrator design of what could become the front-end for a future engine development project. No subsequent funding was made available by public policymakers, so no full engine design was ever completed.

The turbines were also planned to feature hydrostatic bearings instead of the traditional ball bearings.[2]

Powerhead of a subsequently-built US rocket engine, the Blue Origin BE-4, 2018.

History

On July 19, 2006 Rocketdyne announced that the demonstrator engine front-end had been operated at full capacity.[3]

According to NASA, the Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator project was the first of three potential phases of the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology Program, which was aimed at demonstrating technologies that double the capability of state-of-the-art cryogenic booster engines. The project's goal in 2005 was to develop a full-flow, hydrogen-fueled, staged combustion rocket engine.[4]

In 2007, Northrop Grumman announced it had received an AFRL contract to design and test a turbopump for liquid hydrogen propellants that could be used for these engines.[5]

Future engine development work beyond the powerhead demo was never funded by the US government, and neither Rocketdyne—nor later Aerojet Rocketdyne after a 2013 merger—chose to pursue such development with their own or other private funding.

References
  1. Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator (wikisource)
  2. "Next Generation Propulsion Technology: Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator" (PDF). NASA Facts. Marshall Space Flight Center. January 2005. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  3. "New 'Rocket Engine of the Future' Goes to 'Mainstage'". Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
  4. "U.S. Air Force-NASA Technology Demonstrator Engine for Future Launch Vehicles Successfully Fired During Initial Full Duration Test". NASA. 2005.
  5. "U.S. Air Force Contract Continues Northrop Grumman's Work On Upper Stage Engine Technology Program". Northrop Grumman. 2007.
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