Hadley engine

Hadley
Country of originUnited States
DesignerUrsa Major Technologies
StatusInitial Production
Liquid-fuel engine
PropellantLOX / Kerosene
CycleStaged combustion
Performance
Thrust, sea-level5,000 lbf (22 kN)

The Ursa Major Technologies Hadley is a 22-kilonewton (5,000 lbf) thrust Kerosene/LOX oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle rocket engine.

Hadley is the first engine developed by Ursa Major Technologies. It started development in 2015, and prototypes were test fired in 2018.[1] In March 2022 qualification of the engine was complete and flight-ready engines had been delivered to customers.[2] In March 2024 Stratolaunch Systems announced completion of the first powered flight of the Talon-A test vehicle, TA-1.[3] Hadley is the engine powering Talon-A.[4]

Another initial customer, Phantom Space Corporation, plans to use Hadley on their Daytona small-lift rocket.[2] ABL Space Systems initially announced they would use the Hadley engine for the upper-stage[1] of their RS1 rocket, but have subsequently decided to use an internally-developed engine called E2.[5] In April 2023, Astra suggested the vacuum variant of the Hadley engine would power the second stage of their Rocket 4.0 launch vehicle.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Ursa Major Technologies wants outsourcing engines to be the norm". SpaceNews. 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  2. ^ a b Berger, Eric (2022-03-23). "Ursa Major says its Hadley engine supports vertical launch and hypersonic uses". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  3. ^ "Stratolaunch Celebrates First Powered Flight of TA-1 Test Vehicle".
  4. ^ "Ursa Major Hadley Engine Flies for the First Time" (Press release).
  5. ^ "ABL Space Systems increases performance and cuts price of its small launch vehicle". SpaceNews. 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. ^ Launch System 2: Upper Stage Engine, retrieved 2023-04-24