A Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) RS-27A rocket engine today powered the latest version of the Air Force’s Global Positioning System satellite into space aboard a Delta II rocket. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a business unit of United Technologies (NYSE: UTX).
As one of the most reliable booster engines in the world, the RS-27A produces 200,000 pounds of thrust during its more than four-minute burn to space. In its flight today, the engine positioned the Boeing Delta II first stage for release of the second stage and payload.
For over three decades, the RS-27 family has been one of the most trusted propulsion systems in the industry, continuing PWR’s half-century legacy for rocket engine excellence. To date, the engines have scored a 100-percent success record, with 211 launches on the books.
“We’re very proud of that record,” said Elizabeth Jones, RS-27A program manager. “And as a result, our customers know they can count on the RS-27A to do the job precisely as required. That’s why it continues to be the engine of choice in this active segment of the launch business.”
The NAVSTAR GPS Block IIR-16 is the third member of a new generation of GPS satellites that will replace aging GPS spacecraft that have been in service for more than ten years. In service since the 1970s, the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite network is operated by the U.S. Air Force to provide highly accurate navigation information to military forces around the world. A growing number of commercial concerns also use the network.
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 provides high-technology products and services to the aerospace and building industries.
