Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX – News) company, and RD AMROSS, LLC, a joint venture formed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and NPO Energomash, provided power for both the upper stage and the booster stage, respectively, of Lockheed Martin’s Atlas V launched today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The Atlas V delivered the ASTRA 1KR satellite into earth orbit where it will provide direct-to-home broadcast services, including HDTV services, for Europe.
The booster stage of the Atlas V is powered by an RD-180 engine, which is provided by RD AMROSS, LLC, a joint venture formed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and NPO Energomash of Khimky, Russia. NPO Energomash manufactures the RD-180 for RD AMROSS. The Centaur upper stage is powered by a single PWR RL10A-4-2 engine manufactured and provided by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in West Palm Beach.
“We are proud to be a member of the Atlas V team, working closely with Lockheed Martin and RD AMROSS,” said Graham Webb, general manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Florida Operations. “The use of the RD-180 for the booster and the RL10 for the upper stage of the Atlas V highlights the variety of propulsion systems that we can offer our customers.”
The RD-180 delivers nearly one million pounds of thrust enabling the Atlas vehicle to have unmatched performance. This kerosene (hydrocarbon) fueled engine has been flight proven on the Lockheed Martin Atlas III and V. To date, the RD-180 has flown 14 times, enjoying 100 percent mission success.
The RL10 is the most reliable, safest and highest performing upper-stage engine in the world. Created in 1959 after Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne harnessed high-energy liquid hydrogen as fuel for aerospace propulsion, the RL10 has powered space probe missions to nearly every planet in our solar system and helped place numerous military, government and commercial satellites into orbit.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a business unit of Pratt & Whitney (http://www.pratt-whitney.com), offers a complete line of propulsion products, from boosters to upper-stage engines, used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the Space Shuttle Main Engines and propulsion systems for the Atlas and Delta expendable launch vehicles.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. It is a part of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX – News), a diversified company based in Hartford, Conn., which provides high technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries.
