Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s Space Shuttle Main Engines Deliver Final Components of Japanese Experiment Module to International Space Station

Three Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) successfully powered the launch of the final components of the Japanese Experiment Module aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on Mission STS-127 today. The SSME is the world’s only fully reusable high performance rocket engine rated for human space flight. Endeavour launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the 29th flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

In a series of spacewalks, astronauts will install the final two components of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEM EF) and Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section (ELM ES). The facility will provide a type of “front porch” for experiments to be conducted in the exposed environment. A robotic arm attached to the module will be used to position experiments outside the station.

“We are thrilled to complete this international mission that will help pave the way for experiments outside the ISS in the harsh environment of space and enable Japan to enter a new era of space development,” said Jim Paulsen, SSME program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

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.

Source: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

CONTACT: Bryan Kidder, +1-818-586-2213, bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com, or Carri Karuhn, +1-818-586-4963, carri.karuhn@pwr.utc.com, both of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne