Aerojet Launches Spacecraft Bound to Observe the Sun

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Aerojet has launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Boeing Company Delta II rocket. STEREO consists of two nearly identical satellites launched aboard a single rocket to provide three-dimensional measurements of the Sun's near surface region for studying coronal mass ejections. In addition to the spacecraft propulsion systems, Aerojet provided the second stage engine for the Delta II rocket and a small thruster aboard the rocket's third stage. Aerojet has supported more than 250 Delta launches with the Company's second stage rocket engines with 100 percent mission success. Aerojet has also provided spacecraft propulsion systems for many space missions, including NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, Mercury MESSENGER, and Pluto New Horizons.

Aerojet is under contract to provide the spacecraft propulsion systems for the STEREO mission to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The STEREO spacecraft were designed, built and will be operated by APL under the program direction of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Aerojet is also under contract with The Boeing Company to build the second stage engine and provide launch and field support services for the U.S. Air Force, NASA and commercial satellite launch customers.

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