Abstract:This presentation provides an overview of RL10 engine characteristics and recent development activities leading to the newest engine model, the RL10C engine. For more than fifty years, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RL10 has been the nation’s premier upper-stage rocket engine.Evolved from a technological breakthrough in harnessing high-energy liquid hydrogen as an aerospace propulsion fuel, the RL10 has amassed one of the most remarkable lists of accomplishments in the history of space propulsion. The RL10 has played a vital role in placing numerous military, government and commercial satellites into Earth’s orbit, and has helped send space craftto explore every planet in our solar system, including Voyager 1, the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space, and New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft to ever leave Earth orbit. Today, three engines derived from the very core of the legendary RL10, the RL10A-4-2, RL10B-2 and RL10C-1 carry on the RL10’s legacy as the launch industry’s “workhorse” by powering the upper stages of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles.
Bio:
Dr. Popp serves as Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Program Manager for RL10C Engine Development in West Palm Beach, Florida. In this position he is responsible for all aspects of engine development and qualification for flight. Before his current assignment, he has held various different positions in Engineering and Program Management capacities within the company and its predecessor companies Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Pratt & Whitney Space, among them managing the RD-180 kerosene booster engine production and flight support program and the turbo machinery& combustion devices project engineering group. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland. He is a Fellow of the AIAA and has served on various institute technical committees and as the technical Chair of the 2004 Joint Propulsion Conference, sup-porting the aerospace industry at large.
