ULA Atlas V Launch to Feature Full Complement of Aerojet Rocketdyne Solid Rocket Boosters
April 13 2018 - 6:19PM
The upcoming launch of the U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)-11
satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, will benefit from just
over 1.74 million pounds of added thrust from five AJ-60A solid
rocket boosters supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne. The mission marks
the eighth flight of the Atlas V 551 configuration, the most
powerful Atlas V variant that has flown to date.
The Atlas V 551 configuration features a 5-meter payload
fairing, five AJ-60As and a Centaur upper stage powered by a single
Aerojet Rocket RL10C-1 engine. This configuration of the U.S.
government workhorse launch vehicle is capable of delivering 8,900
kilograms of payload to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), and
also has been used to send scientific probes to explore Jupiter and
Pluto. The Centaur upper stage also uses smaller Aerojet Rocketdyne
thrusters for pitch, yaw and roll control, while both stages of the
Atlas V employ pressurization vessels built by Aerojet
Rocketdyne's ARDÉ subsidiary.
“The Atlas V is able to perform a wide variety of missions for
both government and commercial customers, and the AJ-60A is a major
factor in that versatility,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and
President Eileen Drake. “Aerojet Rocketdyne developed the AJ-60A
specifically for the Atlas V, delivering the first booster
just 42 months after the contract award, which underscores our
team’s ability to design and deliver large solid rocket motors in
support of our nation’s strategic goals and efforts to explore our
solar system.”
The flight of the 100th AJ-60A, the largest monolithically wound
solid rocket booster ever flown, took place recently as part of a
complement of four that helped an Atlas V 541 place the
nation’s newest weather satellite into GTO. Anywhere from one to
five AJ-60As, each generating 348,500 pounds of thrust, can be used
to augment the lift capability of the Atlas V, which has flown
76 missions to date in all of its configurations.
AFSPC-11 is a multi-manifested mission. The forward spacecraft
is referred to as CBAS (Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM) and
the aft spacecraft is EAGLE (ESPA Augmented GEO Laboratory
Experiment).
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings,
Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), is an innovative company delivering solutions
that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense
markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense
leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space,
missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and
armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets.
Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne can be obtained by
visiting our websites at www.Rocket.com and
www.AerojetRocketdyne.com.
Contact: Todd McConnell, Aerojet
Rocketdyne,
561-882-5395Todd.Mcconnell@Rocket.comMary Engola,
Aerojet Rocketdyne,
571-289-1371Mary.Engola@Rocket.com
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