Aerojet Rocketdyne Awarded $1B+ in SLS Engine, CST-100 Propulsion Tech Contracts

Aerojet Rocketdyne has secured two contracts worth a combined $1.36 billion for the development of technologies to power the Space Launch System rocket and the CST-100 Starliner crew module that Boeing is building for NASA.

NASA said Tuesday Aerojet Rocketdyne will build an expendable version of the company’s RS-25 engine for the SLS heavy-lift launch vehicle under a potential nine-year, $1.16 billion contract.

SLS is designed to carry the Orion deep-space capsule built by Lockheed Martin.

The contract will run through Sept. 30, 2024, and calls for Aerojet Rocketdyne to use five-axis milling machines, three-dimensional printers and digital X-rays to manufacture SLS engines.

Separately, Boeing awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a $200 million contract to produce at least seven CST-100 propulsion shipsets under NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program.

Each shipset will comprise launch abort, orbital maneuvering and attitude control and reaction control system engines as well as valves, tanks, ducts, lines and tubing systems, Aerojet Rocketdyne said.

Boeing aims to launch a manned CST-100 to the International Space Station for NASA by 2017.