NASA's J-2X Engine Reaches Testing Stage

J-2X E10001 Assembly Complete.
 (Image Credit: NASA/MSFC)

The next generation of space exploration has begun with the testing of the new engine planned to carry humans to deep space.  Tests start at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi, bringing NASA one step closer to the first human-rated liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine to be developed in 40 years.

William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate said "The testing will help ensure that a key propulsion element is ready to support exploration across the solar system."

J-2X is an efficient and versatile advanced rocket engine designed with the thrust and performance to power the upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System, a new heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

Fuelled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the J-2X builds on experience with previous designs, relying  on nearly a half-century of NASA spaceflight experience and technological and manufacturing advances to deliver up to 294,000 pounds of thrust, powering exploration to new destinations in our solar system.