Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to Launch Next-Generation of Commercial Satellite to Map, Measure and Monitor the Earth

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company, will help scientists map, measure and monitor the environment by boosting the next-generation GeoEye-1 commercial satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sept. 4. GeoEye-1 will be onboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, procured by Boeing Launch Services, which will be powered by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s RS-27A engine. It will be the 224th flight boosted by the RS-27 family of engines.

GeoEye-1 will have .41-meter resolution (in the panchromatic mode), which is the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system in the world. The satellite is designed to map natural and man-made features to within three meters of their actual location on Earth without ground control points. This degree of accuracy has never been achieved in a commercial image system, and may be applied to everything from national and homeland security, to natural resource and environmental monitoring.

“We’re proud to be part of this cutting-edge technology that will ultimately change the way we view Earth,” said Elizabeth Jones, RS-27 program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. “Our goal is 100 percent mission success and providing the best-quality product to our customers. The bonus with GeoEye-1 is the knowledge that we are helping scientists monitor and take care of our planet and natural resources.”

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.