Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne powered a Delta II rocket as it roared off the launch pad yesterday at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. The United Launch Alliance rocket was carrying a COSMO-SkyMed satellite, the first in a series of four satellites that will give scientists an unmatched view of the entire Mediterranean region. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s RS-27A engine system fired for slightly over four minutes, producing 200,000 pounds of thrust as it successfully powered the Delta II carrying the COSMO satellite.
COSMO-SkyMed – for “Constellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation” – an advanced constellation developed by Thales Alenia, a Finmeccanica company, will become part of the Italian Space Agency’s Earth observation program. “This was our 214th successful launch for the RS-27 family of engines, maintaining our 100-percent success record, which dates back to the 1970s,” said Elizabeth Jones, RS-27A program manager. “The unmatched reliability of the RS-27A is its strong suit and we’re proud that the engine system was a part of this very important mission.”
“We have eight more Delta II launches scheduled in 2007, and in 2008 we’re tentatively scheduled for nine,” added Jones.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a provider of engines for the entire family of Delta vehicles. The first stages of Delta II vehicles are powered by the RS-27A, while the first stages and upper stages of the Delta IV vehicles are powered by the RS-68 and the RL10, respectively.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, offers a complete line of propulsion products from launch vehicles to missile defense to advanced hypersonic propulsion. These have been used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, and high altitude defense systems.
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.
