Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is hosting the 2009 winning teams of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) and U.K. Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKAYRoC) at the 100th International Paris Air Show Friday

This is the fourth year Raytheon has sponsored the TARC winning team’s trip to an international air show and the first year the company has played host to the UKAYRoC winners.

The TARC winning team is from Madison West High School in Madison, Wis., and UKAYRoC winners are from the Royal Liberty School in Romford, Essex. While both teams won their respective country competitions, they competed against each other in May at the second annual Transatlantic Rocket Fly-Off, held in conjunction with the TARC finals. The British team won the international fly-off for the U.K. for the second consecutive year.

“This trip to the Paris International Air Show recognizes the achievements of the TARC and UKAYRoC winners and rewards their interest in math and science,” said Pam Wickham, Raytheon’s vice president of Corporate Affairs and Communications. “We hope this visit will encourage further study and interest by immersing them in the exciting career opportunities to be found in the aerospace and defense industry.”

The winning teams attended a reception hosted by the AIA to honor U.S. and U.K. military on Thursday. The teams tour the Raytheon chalet Friday where they will have the opportunity to meet Raytheon employees and see first-hand how math and science play a crucial role in the development of Raytheon’s innovative technologies.

In addition to the trip to Paris, the TARC winners share a prize package of $60,000 in scholarships and prizes with other top finishers, as well as an invitation from NASA to participate in its Student Launch Initiative, an advanced rocketry program.

TARC and UKAYRoC are designed to encourage students to pursue careers in aerospace. TARC is a joint effort between the AIA and the National Association of Rocketry. It is sponsored by NASA, the Defense Department, the American Association of Physics Teachers and 34 AIA member companies. UKAYRoC’s sponsors include the Society of British Aerospace Companies, Tri Polus Ltd., the U.K. Rocketry Association, Space Connections and the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Raytheon Company, with 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 87 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.

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