Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s RS-27A Engine Lifts New GPS Satellite

CANOGA PARK, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ — A Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A boosted a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket into space today from Pad 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying the GPSIIR-17 satellite, the latest addition to the Global Positioning Satellite constellation. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. company.

“The RS-27A, working with the Delta II, has been the first-stage engine for previously successful GPS missions,” said Elizabeth Jones, program manager for the RS-27A. “Next year, we’re scheduled to provide first-stage propulsion for three more GPS launches. That’s a very gratifying expression of customer confidence.”

This was the 218th mission for the RS-27 family. Working in concert with “strap-on” solid rocket boosters, the RS-27A provided the power to lift the Delta II rocket into space, where a second-stage engine continued the mission. The RS-27A generated more than 200,000 pounds of thrust until it reached main engine cutoff at four-and-one-half minutes into the flight.

The RS-27 family has been in operation for more than three decades, carrying satellites and exploratory spacecraft into orbit and to deep space. While its basic design has endured, enhancements and state-of-the art technologies have been added continually over the years.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

   Bryan Kidder                 John Mitchell   Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne   Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne   818 586-2213                 818 586-4564   bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com     john.mitchell@pwr.utc.com  

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

CONTACT: Bryan Kidder, +1-818-586-2213, bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com, orJohn Mitchell, +1-818-586-4564, john.mitchell@pwr.utc.com, both of Pratt &Whitney Rocketdyne

Web site: http://www.pratt-whitney.com/