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"What we saw today was a successful test," said Kent Rominger, vice president of Northrop Grumman and director of the OmegA launch system.
WASHINGTON – Northrop Grumman on Thursday conducted a full-scale static fire test of the first stage of OmegA, the company's new rocket that she is developing for national security missions. The company's officials called the test a success, though it appeared that something was wrong near the end when sparks and burning debris were seen coming out of the nozzle.
More than 12 feet in diameter and 80 feet long, the first floor fired 122 seconds at the company's test facility in Promontory, Utah. The static fire produced more than two million pounds of maximum thrust, which is roughly equivalent to that of eight-and-a-half full-size carriers. The test tested the performance of ballistics, insulation and engine seals, as well as the control of the nozzle position, Northrop Grumman said in a statement.
"What we have seen today has been a successful test," Kent Rominger, vice president of Northrop Grumman and head of the Omega launch system, told reporters at a news conference.
Rocket engines are tested at high and low temperatures, he said. This test was at a high temperature of 90 degrees "so that you get a little higher thrust," said Rominger. "It seems that everything worked very well. At the very end, when the engine was down, we observed the rear exit cone, maybe a part of it, doing something a little strange on which we need to go more far.
A large plume of black smoke observed during the test was normal, said Rominger. When a motor goes out on the ground during testing, black smoke is expected, while in space, it is much cleaner.
Rominger did not confirm if one or more pieces of the rear exit cone were bursting. "We have to analyze all these data and analyze them to see what happened," he said. OmegA's C600 first-stage engine nozzle is a commercial nozzle different from that used by NASA's space launch system, he said.
Michael Sanjume, head of the business acquisition division launch of the airspace system center and missile systems of the air force, said the air force would work with Northrop Grumman to analyze the data. "We view this test as an integral part of the development process," said Sanjume.
Rominger said the work required to analyze Thursday's test results would not affect the planned schedule for a large scale static fire test of Omega's second leg. This trial is scheduled to take place in August or September, he said.
The first flight of the Omega rocket, scheduled for 2021, will use a first stage C600 and a second stage rocket engine C300. The second flight of Omega will have the configuration C600 and C300, with the addition of two GEM63XLT strap rocket engines.
Last October, the US Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $ 792 million launch services agreement to complete the development of OmegA and the required launch sites. The company will participate in the service procurement competition for the launch of Phase 2 of the National Security Space. The Air Force plans to select two launch suppliers in 2020. The other candidates are Blue Origin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.
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