Aerojet Celebrates the Delta Launch Vehicle’s 50th Anniversary
Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, congratulates the United Launch Alliance and all of its industry partners on the 50th anniversary of the Delta rocket’s inaugural launch.
The Delta rocket was originally designed as an interim launch vehicle with only a dozen launches planned. With close to 350 launches since May 13, 1960, this month marks the 50th anniversary of this powerhouse Delta vehicle. The Delta family of expendable launch vehicles is known as one of the most successful flight vehicles of any rocket currently in use.
The United Launch Alliance manages the Delta II program today. Aerojet, under contract to the United Launch Alliance, provides the Delta II rocket’s second stage liquid engine. The company’s engines have supported several hundred Delta missions to include critical NASA missions such as the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, MESSENGER, Phoenix Mars Lander, GLAST, THEMIS, STEREO, Deep Impact and the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) spacecraft, as well as the USAF Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIR fleet and several missions for the National Reconnaissance Office.
“Aerojet is proud to have provided its second stage engine for Delta missions throughout the last 50 years,” says Richard Yanick, Aerojet’s director of Delta II and Space Tank Production Programs.
Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, defense and armaments markets. GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company’s excess real estate assets. Additional information about Aerojet and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies’ Web sites at http://www.aerojet.com/ and http://www.gencorp.com/.
CONTACT: Glenn Mahone, +1-202-302-9941, Glenn.Mahone@Aerojet.com, or
Kristin Conner, +1-916-355-2143, Kristin.Conner@Aerojet.com, both of Aerojet
