Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, announced today that its engines contributed to the successful launch of the first Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIF satellite. Aerojet will continue to provide propulsion throughout the life of the satellite. GPS IIF was launched aboard a Delta IV rocket with Aerojet thrusters on the upper stage. The satellite includes Aerojet propulsion systems which will be used annually for ephemeras correction (restoration of a celestial body to its rightful place) and finally to decommission the satellites.
The Global Positioning System provides reliable location and time information anywhere in the world that has access to four or more satellites at once. GPS Block I began launching in 1978; GPS Block II/IIA began launching in 1989; and the last GPS Block IIR-M satellite was launched on Aug. 17, 2009 aboard the Delta II using an Aerojet second stage engine. Aerojet has provided monopropellant hydrazine thrusters for every GPS satellite launched to date as well as complete propulsion systems for Boeing’s GPS IIF. “The Global Positioning System has changed the way we navigate,” said GenCorp President & CEO and Aerojet President, Scott Seymour. “Aerojet is proud of our propulsion on each and every GPS satellite.”
Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, defense and armaments markets. GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company’s excess real estate assets. Additional information about Aerojet and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies’ Web sites at http://www.Aerojet.com and http://www.GenCorp.com.
