Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) company, announced its contract award today from NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) for the development of a 5,500lbf Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane engine.

NASA's Altair lunar lander program and the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) have partnered to create the NASA Propulsion Cryogenic Advanced Development (PCAD) project to support methane technology maturation and advancement. The NASA PCAD project is managed jointly by NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio; NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama; and NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.

This critical engine development effort will provide the NASA Altair lunar lander program with validated methane engine performance and technology risk reduction data prior to the Altair propulsion System Requirements Review (SRR) and Preliminary Design Review (PDR). The objective of the new contract is to design, fabricate and begin testing an Aerojet 5,500lbf methane engine by January 2009 to support the data needs of the Altair SRR.

The NASA Exploration Systems Architecture Studies (ESAS), along with other NASA study activities, has identified Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane propulsion systems as a promising option for future space vehicles. These systems create the potential for substantial savings in overall systems mass when compared to conventional hypergolic systems. "Aerojet is well positioned to accomplish this rapid development effort because of our research and development investments in Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane and other green propellant technologies," said Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet's vice president of Space Systems.

This award will extend Aerojet's Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane development expertise beyond the 100lbf Reaction Control Engine (RCE) contract that currently delivers 100lbf RCE engines to NASA's White Sands Test Facility for altitude testing. The 100lbf engine program, which has been highly successful in RCE engine development can operate on Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane and has demonstrated a very fast pulsing capability in a flight type prototype. This extremely important and critical technology development activity will provide NASA with timely methane ascent main engine technology data to support its system design trade studies and system design decision making.

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion and armaments markets. GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company's excess real estate assets.