Aerojet - History

History

Aerojet developed from a 1936 meeting hosted by Theodore von Kármán at his house. In addition to von Kármán, who was at the time director of Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, a number of other Caltech professors and students were in attendance, including rocket scientist and astrophysicist, Fritz Zwicky, and explosives expert Jack Parsons, all of whom were interested in the topic of spaceflight. The group continued to meet time to time, but was essentially limited to discussions as opposed to experimentation.

Things changed in 1938 when the US Army offered two research projects, one for windshield de-icing on aircraft, and another for rocket engines to launch aircraft (known as RATO). Dr. Jerome Clarke Hunsaker at MIT had the first pick, and feeling that the rocket research was a "Buck Rogers" project, left rockets to the Caltech team.

Their first design was tested on August 16, 1941, consisting of a small cylindrical solid fuel motor attached to the bottom of a plane. The takeoff distance was shortened by half, and the USAAF placed an order for experimental production versions. On March 19, 1942 the company was officially formed in Azusa, CA, known as Aerojet Engineering. The founders of the Aerojet Engineering Corporation were Frank Malina, von Kármán, Parsons, Forman, Martin Summerfield, and Andrew Haley. In 1943 the Army Air Forces finally placed a full order, demanding that 2000 be delivered before year-end. The company also invested in pure rocket research, developing both a liquid-fueled design, and a new solid-fueled design based on a rubber binding agent in partnership with General Tire. In the immediate post-war era Aerojet downsized dramatically, but their RATO units continued to sell for commercial aircraft operating in hot-and-high conditions.

By 1950 their research into the rubber-binder had led to much larger engines, and then to the development of the Aerobee sounding rocket. Aerobee was the first US designed rocket to reach space (albeit not orbit), and completed over 1000 flights before it was retired in 1985. Aerojet designed and built a total of 1,182 engines for all four incarnations of the Titan rockets used for civilian projects ranging from Gemini's manned flights to solar system explorations including Viking, Voyager, and Cassini. The newly-formed US Air Force used Aerojet as the primary supplier on a number of their ICBM projects, including the Titan and Minuteman missiles. They also delivered propulsion systems for the US Navy's submarine-launched Polaris missile. A new plant was set up in Sacramento that took over most rocket construction, while the original Azusa offices returned primarily to research. One of Azusa's major projects was the development of the infra-red detectors for the Defense Support Program satellites, used to detect ICBM launches from space. The new research arm was formed as Aerojet Electronics, and after purchasing a number of ordnance companies, Aerojet Ordnance was created as well. A new umbrella organization oversaw the three major divisions, Aerojet General.

President Kennedy's challenge to place man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s led to increased civilian work at Aerojet. In the past they had repeatedly lost contracts for large engines for the Saturn and Nova boosters, being designed in the late 1950s, typically to their rival Rocketdyne, but in the end were selected to develop and build the main engine for the Apollo Command/Service Module. In 1962 they were also selected to design a new upper-stage engine to replace the cluster of five J-2s used on the Saturn second stage in the post-Apollo era, but work on their resulting M-1 design was later ended in 1965 when it became clear the public's support for a massive space program was waning.

Similar work continued in the 1970s, delivering the 2nd stage motor for the MX missile, the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) for the Space Shuttle, and the first US-designed cluster bombs. A contract for 30 mm ammunition for the A-10 Thunderbolt II was so extensive that new branch plants were set up in Downey and Chino in 1978. Aerojet also purchased a number of other firms over this period, and their plant in Jonesborough, TN developed the use of depleted uranium ordnance. To this day they are the primary supplier of these weapons. Their electronics and ordnance divisions also collaborated on the SADARM 8" anti-armor artillery round, but this was not put into production.

The 1980s saw a brief revival of the aerospace business during Reagan's SDI program, but the company shrank during the late 1980s and into the 1990s.

During the 21st century, Aerojet grew steadily from 2002 to 2008. In 2008, Aerojet employed more than 3500. Aerojet's second-stage for the Delta II rocket engine (first used in 1960) completed a record 268 successful mission launches on February 6, 2009. NASA's Constellation program set a long-term goal of returning to the moon and continue with missions to Mars. NASA chose Aerojet to provide the primary design and development of Orion spacecraft propulsion systems.

Aerojet has major facilities in Jonesborough, TN; Redmond, WA; Orange, VA; Gainesville, VA; Camden, AR; and Socorro, NM.