Aerojet Rocketdyne has conducted the post-boost propulsion system critical design review for the Sentinel nuclear missile program, the company said in its third quarter earnings call Tuesday morning.
CEO Eileen Drake said the CDR was a “major review gate on the path to flight readiness [that paved] the way for fabrication, demonstration and testing of propulsion components prior to production.”
The company also tested a new large solid rocket motor with the Air Force Research Laboratory in the third quarter, Drake said. It uses a graphite composite key, lower-cost advanced nozzle and high-energy, long-life solid propellants to reduce cost and improve performance, she said.
“Our demonstration of this capability is directly applicable to legacy large solid rocket motor applications and is a building block for multiple systems under development today,” Drake said.
Aerojet will power the Navy’s Compact Rapid Attack Weapon, working with Raytheon Missile and Defense, and will provide the afterbody, propulsion system and tail for the torpedo, Drake said.
“The new torpedo will use innovative stored-chemical energy propulsions systems, or SCEPS, which will significantly improve interchangeability,” Drake said. “This work will build on the success of our SCEPS lithium boiler earlier this year.”
SCEPS will also be used on the Navy’s Mk 54 MOD-2 torpedo, she said.
Aerojet Rocketdyne also has significant contracts with NASA, including for propulsion system components for the Artemis program and the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, which used 12 of the company’s thrusters to crash into an asteroid in space and redirect its trajectory, Drake said.
The United Launch Alliance again successfully used Aerojet propulsion systems for its Delta IV Heavy program and has two more launches scheduled in 2023 and 2024, she said.
Net sales for Aeroject Rocketdyne were up 1% compared to the third quarter last year, coming in at $550 million, Chief Financial Officer Dan Boehle said. The increase was driven by higher volume on the Next Generation Interceptor and Standard Missile but offset partially by the Army’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and RL10 engine for NASA.