Hadley engine

Hadley
AFRL Hadley Hotfire Test
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.

History

Hadley is the first engine developed by Ursa Major Technologies. It started development in 2015, and prototypes were test fired in 2018.

In March 2022 qualification of the engine was complete and flight-ready engines had been delivered to customers.

In March 2024 Stratolaunch Systems announced completion of the first powered flight of the Talon-A test vehicle, TA-1. Hadley is the engine powering Talon-A.

Another initial customer, Phantom Space Corporation, plans to use Hadley on their Daytona small-lift rocket.

ABL Space Systems initially announced they would use the Hadley engine for the upper-stage of their RS1 rocket, but have subsequently decided to use an internally-developed engine called E2.

In April 2023, Astra suggested the vacuum variant of the Hadley engine would power the second stage of their Rocket 4.0 launch vehicle.

Users

References

  1. 1 2 "Ursa Major Technologies wants outsourcing engines to be the norm". SpaceNews. 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  2. 1 2 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
  7. ↑ "X-60A Hypersonic Flight Research Vehicle, United States of America". Airforce Technology. Archived from the original on 2025-10-11. Retrieved 2026-07-03.