Aerojet, Teledyne Team to Build Rocket Engines

June 6, 2011
Development program will focus on NASA and other space launch projects

A Teledyne Technologies Inc. subsidiary and Aerojet-General Corp. have agreed to an alliance that will se them develop, manufacture, and market liquid-propellant rocket engines for NASA and other aerospace companies. Their strategic alliance will pursue contracts through NASA’s Advanced Space Launch System program, which is pursuing and evaluating ideas and proposals for unmanned space launches. NASA officials have said the Space Launch System is not meant to replace the Space Shuttle or other program any time soon, but its results could be adapted to carry astronauts after unmanned missions have been successful.

Teledyne Brown Engineering, Huntsville, Ala., designs and manufactures complex systems for commercial energy, aerospace, and defense markets. In the space market, Teledyne Brown has produced flight hardware, experiments, ground support equipment, spacecraft prototypes and engine components for space vehicles.

"We are very pleased to partner with Aerojet, a world leader in liquid rocket engine technology," stated Rex D. Geveden, president, Teledyne Brown Engineering. "The combination of Aerojet's leadership in engine design and production and Teledyne's experience with complex engineered systems and advanced manufacturing creates a strong, unchallengeable offering to customers."

Teledyne Brown is producing about 200 turbine engines each year for the JASSM and Harpoon cruise missile programs at the Advanced Turbine Manufacturing Center (ATMC) it opened this year, and it will serve unmanned aerial vehicle and liquid propulsion programs, too.

Aerojet concentrates on designs for missile and space propulsion, defense, and armaments systems, and its parent company GenCorp is a high-tech manufacturer of aerospace and defense products.

The two companies said their partnership could lead to as many as 1,400 new jobs at their operations in Northern Alabama and California.