Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is under contract by NASA to develop the Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE), a deep-throttling, 15,000 pound thrust-class demonstrator rocket engine. A mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuels the CECE.

Cryogenic propulsion is a key capability required to execute NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration, which calls for human lunar landings by 2018 and, eventually, the exploration of Mars. The CECE demonstrator will mature technologies to support a wide range of in-space applications such as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) and in-space transfer systems.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has extensive experience in cryogenic propulsion. The CECE benefits from the fundamental design of the RL10, which has earned a reputation of being one of the most reliable, safe and high performing cryogenic upper stage engines ever developed. The RL10 is currently in production for service on the Atlas and Delta launch vehicles.

The CECE leverages the performance and reliability benefits of the RL10, offering NASA an affordable, low-risk solution to securing propulsion systems for use across multiple mission segments.