CANOGA PARK, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company, has spent the last several months successfully completing a series of hot-fire tests on heritage J-2 rocket engine components that are the basis for the new J-2X rocket engine.

The J-2X will power the nation's new Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles scheduled to send astronauts to the International Space Station and return them to the moon by 2020. These initial tests of hardware designated Powerpack 1-A, is providing valuable data to engine designers and paving the way for longer, full power hot-fire tests of actual J-2X engine hardware. It's also a significant milestone placing the J-2X engine one step closer to Critical Design Review scheduled for this fall, and placing the Constellation Program one step closer to reality.

"These powerpack tests provided us with very good data to help as we move forward in the designing and developing of the J-2X," said John Vilja, PWR's program manager for the J-2X. "It's truly exciting to witness and be part of the future as it's unfolding and these successful tests are a tangible piece of that future."

Powerpack 1-A consisted of proven J-2 and J-2S engine components, primarily the fuel oxidizer turbopumps, which pump propellants into the engine combustion chamber to create thrust. The powerpack was test fired for a full 400 seconds at conditions simulating those of a full engine assembly producing the rated thrust level. The purpose of the tests, which began in December 2007, was to simulate the environments under which the new J-2X components will operate. A second powerpack series planned for the 2010 timeframe will test actual J-2X development turbomachinery as an intermediate step to full engine testing.

The core components which made up the J-2X test article originally delivered propellants to the Apollo-era J-2 engine that powered the second and third stages of the Saturn V rockets in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovation system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

    Bryan Kidder                      Erin Dick
    Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne        Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
    818 586-2213                      818 586-4977
    bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com          erin.dick@pwr.utc.com

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne