Aerojet Rocketdyne Provides RL10 Upper-Stage Rocket Engine to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Cox Science Center
May 25 2023 - 12:00PM
Two Florida attractions now have RL10 upper-stage rocket engines on
display, thanks to Aerojet Rocketdyne: the new Gateway™: The Deep
Space Launch Complex® at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex on Merritt Island, and the Cox Science Center and Aquarium
(CSCA) in West Palm Beach where the RL10 is produced.
“The RL10 has been the nation’s premier, high-performance launch
vehicle upper-stage rocket engine for nearly 60 years,” said Eileen
P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. “We’re excited to
work with Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Cox Science
Center to tell the RL10 story and inspire future rocket
scientists.”
The RL10 engine, which is designed, manufactured, assembled and
tested in West Palm Beach, Florida, has played a vital role in
placing hundreds of military, government and commercial satellites
into Earth’s orbit, and has helped send spacecraft to explore every
planet in our solar system, including Voyager 1 and
Voyager 2, the first two spacecraft to reach interstellar
space.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex tells the story of the RL10
program, which has flown more than 500 engines in space since its
first successful launch in 1963. The RL10 powered the upper stage
of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, known as the Interim
Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, as part of the Artemis I mission
this past November. A single RL10 will power the SLS upper stage
during the next two Artemis missions, and four RL10 engines will
support the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage that is being
developed for use beginning with Artemis IV. Two RL10 engines
also power the upper stage of each flight of the new United Launch
Alliance Vulcan rocket.
“Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex, which opened in the
summer of 2022, focuses on the present and future of collaborative
space exploration,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer,
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. “The RL10 is the perfect
example of how the science of today will launch us into the
innovation of tomorrow, and is an important component of our new
attraction.”
Visitors to the interactive RL10 display in the new Gateway
attraction have the opportunity to mix liquid hydrogen and liquid
oxygen propellants in order to simulate hot firing the engine.
“The Cox Science Center and Aquarium has been serving Palm Beach
County since 1961 and our mission is to open every mind to
science,” said CSCA President and CEO Kate Arrizza. “We’re so
excited to have a new RL10 rocket engine that is manufactured right
here in Palm Beach County now on display. It will educate millions
of learners for years to come and inspire the next generation of
space scientists and explorers.”
About Aerojet Rocketdyne: Aerojet Rocketdyne, a
subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), is a
world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides
propulsion systems and energetics to the space, missile defense and
strategic systems, and tactical systems areas, in support of
domestic and international customers. For more information, visit
www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com. Follow Aerojet
Rocketdyne and CEO Eileen Drake on Twitter at @AerojetRdyne and
@DrakeEileen.
Media Contacts:Mary Engola, Aerojet Rocketdyne,
571-289-1371Mary.Engola@rocket.comTodd McConnell, Aerojet
Rocketdyne, 561-882-5395Todd.McConnell@rocket.com
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