Costs For Japan GX Engine Creeping Up

ROCKET SCIENCE

GX Launch Vehicle (pictured) is a mid-size rocket for commercial launches. The GX launch vehicle project is led by the private sector, a group of private companies, and NASDA participates in the development of LNG (liquid natural gas) engine (the first type in the world) and propellant tanks for the second stage. Credit: NASDA.

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (JIJI) Sep 28, 2006
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, reported to a science and technology ministry panel Tuesday that costs for developing an engine for the GX midsize rocket are expected to reach 34.7 billion yen, 3.5 times the initial estimate, due to a major change in its spec.

The engine, being developed jointly by such firms as Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., will be powered by liquefied natural gas. Such an engine has never been successfully developed for commercial use even in the United States and Russia.

The initial launch of the rocket has already been delayed to fiscal 2010 or later from the originally scheduled fiscal 2005.

The science and technology ministry is expected to allow JAXA to continue the development work. But criticism of the project may increase within the ministry panel because of the swelling costs and the launch delay.

The first stage of the two-stage rocket is slated to carry a U.S.-made engine and the second stage a newly developed LNG engine.

By using LNG, which is cheaper and easier to use than hydrogen fuel, JAXA is aiming to develop a high-performance, cost-efficient commercial satellite launch vehicle.

But the project has faced a number of problems. The project partners failed to develop a light fuel tank made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum, and shifted to a stainless steel tank. They also gave up development of a combustion system using helium and instead adopted a system used in an existing rocket.

Source: Jiji Press

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