Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Powers United Launch Alliance Atlas V Upper Stage, Placing Early-Warning Missile Satellite into Orbit

CANOGA PARK, Calif., March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- An Atlas V launch vehicle rose from the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., today to deliver the second Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous satellite (SBIRS GEO 2) into orbit – thanks to propulsion provided by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and RD AMROSS.  The United Launch Alliance Atlas V is powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 booster engine and a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10A-4-2 upper-stage engine. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. RD AMROSS LLC is a joint venture of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and NPO Energomash.

"With its third mission in as many months, the RL10 is off to an excellent start in its 50^th year of successfully placing payloads into orbit," said Christine Cooley, RL10 program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.  "Congratulations to the entire RL10 team for another job well done."

"The RD-180 continues to show its muster in boosting payloads into space," said Bill Parsons, president and CEO of RD AMROSS.  "We look forward to working with our customers and providing reliable power to launch on future missions."

The SBIRS program features a mix of satellites in geosynchronous orbit that are designed to provide resilient and improved missile-warning capabilities for the nation and allied countries.  The satellites also contribute toward missile defense and technical intelligence for the U.S. military.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, 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 engines for launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines. Behind its successful designs, manufacturing processes, and hardware are Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's research and development engineers, who solve tough problems in extreme environments. For more information, go to www.PrattWhitneyRocketdyne.com.  Follow us at www.Twitter.com/PWRocketdyne and www.Facebook.com/PWRocketdyne.

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 commercial building industries.

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne