Nasa and Aerojet Rocketdyne test the RS-25 engine for Nasa’s Space Launch System at Stennis Space Centre. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has collaborated with Nasa to carry out a hot fire test of the RS-25 main engine, which is being developed to power the space agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during deep space missions.

The test was conducted at Nasa’s Stennis Space Centre in the US and lasted for 260 seconds.

During the hot fire test, the RS-25 engine throttled up to 113% of its original design thrust level, which is the highest thrust level achieved by it so far.

“The lifting power of the SLS will permit Nasa to get bigger payloads to distant planets more quickly than any other launcher operating today.”

In its first four flights, SLS will use engines that max out at 109% of rated thrust. The first mission is expected to take place by 2020, when the rocket will carry an unmanned version of Nasa’s Orion spacecraft on a mission beyond the Moon.

The newly conducted test is the fourth that saw the use of a 3D-printed Pogo accumulator assembly.

From its fifth flight, SLS is expected to be configured with newly built RS-25 engines that will include the Pogo assembly and other 3D-printed components currently under development.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president Eileen Drake said: “One of the key features of SLS is its versatility to support human and robotic missions, launching spacecraft, habitats and astronauts to a variety of deep space destinations.

“The lifting power of the SLS will permit Nasa to get bigger payloads to distant planets more quickly than any other launcher operating today.”

The RS-25 is a modified version of the Space Shuttle Main Engine that was used to power the Space Shuttle into space.

Earlier this month, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Nasa successfully test-fired an RS-25 engine to qualify the fourth and final RS-25 engine controller for the agency’s Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2).