Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it had agreed with the US aerospace giant Boeing Co. on joint development of a next-generation space rocket engine.
Mitsubishi Heavy said in a statement that the two companies would develop a liquid oxygen rocket engine, dubbed MB-XX, for large second-stage rockets to put satellites into orbit.
The companies hoped to complete the development project by 2003 and seek orders for the engine from Japan, the United States and Europe, the statement said.
The MB-XX will be fuelled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and have a thrust of 22-27 tonnes. The engine, designated “MB-XX,” will provide high-efficiency, affordable, low-risk propulsion. Full-scale development of the engine was initiated in January 1999.
The first derivative version of the MB-XX, designated by Boeing as the “MB-60,” is a 60,000 lb.-thrust engine, targeted for use on the Boeing Delta IV vehicle and will be available to support launch operations in 2004.
For 45 years, Boeing Rocketdyne has developed and manufactured rocket propulsion systems for virtually every major U.S. space program. Rocketdyne developed the Space Shuttle Main Engine, still the world’s only large reusable liquid-fueled booster engine.
