Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne today helped boost the eighth and final modernized NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIR military navigation satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company, powered a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with an RS-27A engine. It was the 230th flight boosted by the RS-27 family of engines to lift a satellite.
“The RS-27A engine performed as expected and we’re proud to have supported the U.S. Air Force and United Launch Alliance as the GPS satellite constellation was modernized and enhanced for navigation accuracy,” said Elizabeth Jones, RS-27A program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
The Block IIR is the last in a series of new GPS satellites that provide improved navigational accuracy and longer autonomous operation than earlier models. The satellites can determine their own positions among other Block IIR satellites, and have reprogrammable processes that enable repairs and upgrades in flight. With a 60-day advance notice, a Block IIR satellite can be lifted into any required GPS orbit.
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 commercial building industries.
