Aerojet Rocketdyne’s hot-fire test of an additively manufactured thrust chamber assembly at its West Palm Beach, Florida facility. Photo: Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has completed a successful hot-fire test of a controllable solid rocket motor under the U.S. Air Force Demonstration and Validation Post Boost Study A program. According to Aerojet Rocketdyne Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President Eileen Drake, applying this technology could provide increased mission flexibility and capability in a future post boost propulsion system.

Post boost propulsion systems are a critical element of strategic and missile defense systems for final payload positioning and deployment. The Post Boost Study A program was aimed at identifying emerging propulsion concepts using a trade study approach.

“This program allowed us to evaluate various advanced technology propulsion systems and select one of the most promising — a controllable solid rocket motor system for hardware demonstration testing,” said Vice President of Defense Advanced Programs Tyler Evans. “Maturing this critical technology now will undoubtedly pay future dividends as our nation looks to modernize its strategic deterrent capabilities in the coming years.”