Aerojet, Pratt In Engine Technology Study (Feb. 22)
SACRAMENTO, Calif.---The Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate, through its contracting office at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., has awarded the joint venture team of Aerojet and Pratt & Whitney's Chemical Systems Division (CSD) a $9 million contract for the Integrated High Performance Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) Phase II Demonstration Program. Aerojet will receive approximately $4.5 million of the contract award.
"This is another example of how Aerojet can strategically team to win in this evolving industry,'' said Russ Reavis, Aerojet vice president of Solid Energetics and Advanced Structures. "The combined technologies and reputations of Aerojet and CSD clearly offered the Air Force a reduced-risk approach to this program.''
IHPRPT is a joint government-industry program that is goal-driven to increase solid rocket propulsion technology and subsequent system payoffs.
"The IHPRPT Phase II Demonstration award is an excellent opportunity for the Aerojet/CSD team,'' said Chuck Shaeffer, CSD IHPRPT program manager. "It will allow us to develop and demonstrate state-of-the-art technologies incorporated into a state-of-the-art solid rocket motor that can be used for both commercial and Department of Defense applications. This award makes this team a major player in the IHPRPT community.''
The Aerojet/CSD team, which started work on the program in January 2001, will design two Technology Assessment Motors (TAMs) that will demonstrate downselected insulated case, nozzle and propellant component technologies in the fall of 2002.
The best-demonstrated component technologies that meet the IHPRPT goals will then be incorporated into an improved Orbus 7 design for a 2004 motor firing. This design could provide a new upper-stage product line for the future.
CSD, located in San Jose, Calif., is part of Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion, which also includes Liquid Space Propulsion, located in West Palm Beach, Fla. Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion, a leader in the propulsion industry, is also part of United Technologies Corporation, whose companies provide a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.
Aerojet, a GenCorp company, is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the space electronics, missile and space propulsion, and smart munitions and armaments markets.
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Aerojet/Pratt & Whitney Joint Venture Wins $9 Million Air Force Propulsion Technology Contract
