An Aerojet Rocketdyne-made propulsion system worked to lift off an Atlas V rocket that carried a NASA communications satellite into space recently.
Aerojet Rocketdyne provided 12 monopropellant thrusters, helium presurrization tanks and the RL10A-4-2 engine used on the rocket’s Centaur upper-stage structure, the company said Friday.
NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
“Everyone involved with its launch should be proud to know they are continuing to help astronauts on the International Space Station, and robots on other spacecraft, relay scientific achievements back to Earth,” said Steve Bouley, Aerojet Rocketdyne vice president for space launch systems.
The satellite is designed to transmit networking data between the ISS and Earth’s ground control terminals.
TDRS-L was the second platform deployed to NASA’s third-generation data satellite constellation.