The LOX-methane firing – thought to be longest duration for such an engine developed in the United States – resulted from a three-year collaboration by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and KT Engineering Corporation in Huntsville.

Project engineers developed and tested a pressure-fed type of LOX-methane engine, meaning the engine features pressurized propellant tanks with a separate gas supply to force fuel into the combustion chamber.

Using this configuration, the engineers developed engine start and shutdown sequences and evaluated LOX-methane engine performance over a range of fuel-mixture ratios and chamber pressures. The engine produces a vacuum-rated thrust of 20,000 pounds and is integrated into a propulsion system test bed at Marshall.

"We have increased the existing technical expertise and experience working with LOX-methane propulsion systems," said Pete Rodriguez, director of the test laboratory managed by the center's Engineering Directorate. "We also have an exceptional testing infrastructure that has enabled us to accomplish this long-duration test."

NASA said the testing to date has demonstrated stable combustion over a range of propellant mixture ratios, engine throttle capability between 60 percent and 100 percent of rated thrust, and engine efficiencies consistent with the requirements of future space-exploration missions, as outlined in the agency's Vision for Space Exploration.

Engineers are planning three more hot-fire tests using the current engine configuration. Then they will replace the engine with a more flight-like test model that incorporates a range of new design, material and manufacturing technologies intended to increase its performance and lower its manufacturing cost.

Engineers will subject the flight-like engine to a series of cold-flow and hot-fire tests to validate its performance and provide critical engineering data needed to develop the final design.

"This type of engine is a strong candidate for use in a launch vehicle propulsion system that is low cost, but offers the high operational responsiveness needed to pursue our aggressive space exploration goals," said Robert L. Sackheim, Marshall's chief engineer for space propulsion.

"As a result of these tests, NASA engineers have learned a great deal about different configurations for LOX-methane propulsion systems," said David Stephenson, Marshall's project manager for the Radial Segmented Launch Vehicle.

The benefits of LOX-methane engines, Stephenson said, stem from their strong performance in supporting missions with heavy payloads.

"Compared to engines powered by traditional storable hypergolic liquid fuels," he said, "LOX-methane engines have additional capabilities in supporting a large spacecraft's descent and landing on a planetary surface."

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