SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), announced today it has completed its 100th deliverable Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), AJ60, for United Launch Alliance (ULA) in support of the Atlas V launch vehicle program.
"This is a tremendous milestone – not just for Aerojet Rocketdyne but for our team of engineers and production personnel who have demonstrated unparalleled commitment and technical expertise over the years to design, build and fly a highly effective, affordable SRB that has performed with 100 percent mission success," said Eileen Drake, CEO and president of Aerojet Rocketdyne.
To date, 87 Aerojet Rocketdyne SRBs have flown on 24 Atlas missions, helping power satellites into space that are vital to our nation's defense, support of our warfighters, space exploration and worldwide communication. Aerojet Rocketdyne competed and won the Atlas V Solid Rocket Booster program in 1999, based on technical and programmatic merits as well as cost. The AJ60 is the longest monolithically wound composite rocket motor in the world, and incorporates several world-class technologies that result in an affordable, high performance rocket motor. The Atlas V SRBs were successfully developed, qualified and delivered for first flight only 42 months after contract award. The first Atlas V launch with SRBs was a July 2003 launch of Rainbow 1, a commercial communications satellite.
Aerojet Rocketdyne SRBs afford significant flexibility to the Atlas V launch vehicle fleet. Depending on payload weight and mission requirements, the Atlas V can receive supplemental launch thrust from up to five SRBs which are attached to the common core booster. Each 67-foot long, 5-foot wide composite motor case contains more than 90,000 pounds of propellant, providing more than 375,000 pounds of liftoff thrust. In the maximum configuration, five SRBs can increase the launch thrust of ULA's Atlas V rocket by more than 1.9 million pounds.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is an innovative company delivering solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne can be obtained by visiting our websites at www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com.