AEROJET PRESS RELEASE
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Aerojet, a GenCorp NYSE: GY company, announced today that Jules Verne — the first of the European Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV) — has successfully launched aboard the European expendable launch system, Ariane 5, out of Kourou in French Guiana.
For the mission, Aerojet delivered four R-4D main engines that will be used to accomplish the early circularization maneuvers and docking simulations. NASA announced that the ATV reached its preliminary orbit about nine minutes after liftoff. When preliminary orbit was achieved, the ATV engines fired for eight minutes to place the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit. About 45 minutes later, a second engine firing circularized the ATV’s orbit prior to spacecraft separation.
Once in orbit, the ATV will undergo four weeks of extensive systems tests, including two approaches to the station to simulate rendezvous and contingency techniques.
“Aerojet is pleased to support its international partners,” said Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet vice president for Space. “The launch of the first of the ATV transfer vehicles paves a new way of reaching the International Space Station.”
Aerojet’s R-4D bipropellant main engines are a derivative of the engines flown on Apollo. They are used for achieving orbit on many geosynchronous satellites and also will be used on the next generation Orion Service Module. The R-4D engines were delivered to the prime contractor, EADS Astrium, for use on the Jules Verne ATV.
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 www.Aerojet.com and www.GenCorp.com.
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