
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - What does the world's most prolific upper-stage rocket engine have in common with the Lava Lamp, the smiley face and instant coffee?
They all debuted in 1963 and are still around 60 years later.
It's probably safe to say, however, that the similarities - aside from perhaps enduring popularity - end there. Built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, the RL10 upper stage rocket engine is the world's first-ever liquid-hydrogen-fueled rocket engine with well over 500 flights under its belt and occupies a class by itself.
Although it has been continuously upgraded over the years to improve performance and reduce cost, the RL10 features the same basic design today as when it debuted Nov. 27, 1963. The mission launched aboard an Atlas rocket and featured two RL10 engines powering the Centaur upper stage during the successful test. Over the next six decades, the powerful combination of Centaur and RL10 helped deliver hundreds of satellites to orbit and sent spacecraft to explore every planet in our solar system - a relationship that continues to this day.
Since its first successful flight, the RL10 has flown hundreds of missions, been integrated onto more launch vehicles, and sent more spacecraft to more places than any other rocket engine ever built.
When you look at most rocket engines out there, they're integrated with a launch vehicle and when that vehicle goes away, the engine goes away, said George Prueger, Aerojet Rocketdyne senior director of RL10 programs. The RL10, by contrast, has flown on a diverse array of vehicles including Saturn I, Atlas, Titan, Delta and even the DC-X, an experimental suborbital vehicle flown by the Defense Department and NASA that was the first to demonstrate vertical rocket landing.
It continues to be sought after by the space launch community because of its performance and demonstrated reliability, Prueger said. Put an RL10 engine on top of your vehicle and you can be confident in its unmatched reliability and performance.
Just a few of the notable exploration missions that the RL10 helped launch are the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers currently plying the surface of Mars, the Parker Solar Probe, the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, and the twin Voyager spacecraft that have left the solar system to become the first human-made objects to reach interstellar space. The RL10 also has supported hundreds of missions to different Earth orbits for customers including the Department of Defense, National Reconnaissance Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several satellite communications companies.
Although it was not part of the Saturn V rocket stack that launched astronauts to the Moon, the RL10 did pave the way for the liquid-hydrogen-fueled J2 engine that was used extensively on the Apollo flights. Modern variants of the RL10 are used on NASA's super heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will return astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade as part of the NASA's Artemis deep-space exploration program.
The RL10 engine's enormously rich legacy is not even close to being complete: it is used today on multiple vehicles and the latest variant, still in development, will be flying well into the future on SLS and the new United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket that is set to make its inaugural flight later this year.
Early RL10 variants weighed less than 300 pounds and generated roughly 15,000 pounds of thrust in the vacuum of outer space, and typically flew in a dual-engine configuration on the Atlas rocket with a Centaur upper stage. That said, six RL10s powered the upper stage of NASA's Saturn I S-IV rocket, which was used to launch prototypes of the Apollo Moon capsule.
The different RL10 models flying today weigh closer to 600 pounds and generate around 25,000 pounds of thrust. Aerojet Rocketdyne has been able to boost engine thrust over the years by increasing the size of the turbomachinery and related plumbing, Prueger said.
But the key aspect that has been at the heart of the RL10's incredible longevity is its simple implementation of the highly efficient expander rocket engine cycle. The expander cycle eliminates the need to burn propellants to turn the turbines that drive the fuel pumps that other, less efficient engine configurations employ. The RL10 uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen to cool the combustion chamber and nozzle, where it picks up heat and turns into hydrogen gas. This expansion of hydrogen gas drives the turbine, which powers the pump.
There is another critical engine performance metric that is just as important as thrust: Specific impulse, or Isp, which is a measure of fuel efficiency like gas mileage in a car. Defined simply as the ratio of the thrust produced by a rocket engine to the rate of fuel consumption, an engine with higher specific impulse is capable of producing more thrust from the same amount of propellant.
When it comes to Isp, the RL10 has no equal in conventional chemical propulsion, Prueger said. The high-performance combination of liquid hydrogen fuel and a liquid oxygen oxidizer generates more thrust per unit of fuel burned than any other propellant combination. Using this combination of propellants in a highly efficient expander cycle engine means a launch vehicle can carry less fuel, which keeps the weight down and allows more payload to be carried to orbit.
Another characteristic of the RL10 that makes it the preferred choice of the space launch industry is the engine's ability to make multiple restarts in space. Being able to restart the engine in the frozen vacuum of space, which is no easy feat, allows longer launch windows, increases the performance capability by enabling extended coast periods during a mission, and offers the potential to have a r
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
15/04/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BBC World Service has selected its IP ...
15/04/2026
LiveU has announced an expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, add...
15/04/2026
Ateme has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to support live Apple Immersive ...
15/04/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a multi-year partnership renewal with DAZN DACH, covering Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and...
15/04/2026
Canon U.S.A. (NAB Booth C3825) today took the lid off of the CINE-SERVO 40-1200m...
15/04/2026
Panasonic Video and Audio Systems North America and NEP Group will demonstrate a...
15/04/2026
For the fourth year running, independent analysts found businesses across all industries and verticals pay roughly the same amount in fees as they spend on stor...
15/04/2026
The Soccer Tournament (TST) has announced a media rights deal with NBC Sports to...
15/04/2026
JB&A will host the Pre-NAB 2026 Technology Event on April 17-18 at Flamingo Las Vegas, ahead of NAB Show. The event features hands-on demonstrations and technic...
15/04/2026
The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth 4931, Central Hall), with demonstrations from Sennheiser, Neumann, and Merging across three areas: Rel...
15/04/2026
NAB Show 2026 will take place April 18-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, wi...
15/04/2026
AI-Media has announced the LEXI Text Encoder and LEXI Voice Encoder at NAB Show 2026, the company's first new encoder hardware release in more than a decade...
15/04/2026
Italian camera support manufacturer Cartoni will introduce several new products at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C6540, Central Hall), including the Master 30 OB fluid h...
15/04/2026
Lawo and swXtch.io have announced a memorandum of understanding at NAB Show 2026, under which Lawo will explore incorporating swXtch.io's groundSwXtch softw...
15/04/2026
CacheFly will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W3129, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), showcasing three new additions to its content delivery platform:...
15/04/2026
Synamedia has announced GO Shorts, a new module within its Synamedia Go OTT platform that uses AI to convert an operator's existing content library into a s...
15/04/2026
The NAB Show kicks off on Saturday, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams a...
15/04/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced an agreement to acquire Comprimato, a live video encoding and processing software company. The deal will unite the two companies...
15/04/2026
Prime Video Sports' NBA Playoffs coverage, which includes the entire SoFi NB...
15/04/2026
Just announced, the SDE standard provides a unified method and file format to ensure consistent and reliably comparable noise predictions
Sports and entertainm...
15/04/2026
From immersive storytelling to laugh-out-loud comedies, podcasts are booming in ...
15/04/2026
Books have always moved with us, whether tucked in our bags or humming in our he...
15/04/2026
For many artists, independent venues are where music careers begin and fan communities take shape. Independent venue operators work hard every day to keep local...
15/04/2026
From gripping thrillers to poignant memoirs, the 21st century has had no shortage of unforgettable books. To celebrate the standout storytelling of our modern e...
15/04/2026
Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in
Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...
15/04/2026
Includes eight free UAD plug-ins
Universal Audio's latest bundle brings together a selection of their renowned plug-ins and virtual instruments, and is ...
15/04/2026
Maximum uptime for broadcasters: Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S BroadcastShield at...
15/04/2026
Image courtesy of MD Helicopters...
15/04/2026
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, L3Harris VP Mark Farley, and state and local l...
15/04/2026
U.S. Space Forces Ground-Based Optical Sensor System upgrade at the Maui Space S...
15/04/2026
NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024...
15/04/2026
New data reveals older Kiwis are financially resilient, loyal to local products,...
15/04/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, announces the market launch of the ACCE...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...
15/04/2026
LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...
15/04/2026
Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...
15/04/2026
Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...
15/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
Apri...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...