Sun, Aug 24, 2014
Conferred For The Company's Role In Helping Save A Stranded Satellite
The Electric Propulsion Technical Committee has presented its Outstanding Achievement Award to Aerojet Rocketdyne for its contribution to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency-1 (AEHF-1) Rescue Team. The team, which included two other aerospace companies and the U.S. Air Force, helped save the AEHF-1 military communications satellite and place it into proper orbit after the spacecraft's main bipropellant engine failed to ignite.
The award was announced at the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics.
"Aerojet Rocketdyne is honored to receive this prestigious award as part of the AEHF-1 Rescue Team," said Julie Van Kleeck, vice president of Space Advanced Programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne. "The team did remarkable work to preserve the full-mission capability of the satellite in the face of tremendous challenges. This rescue paves the way for extending the use of electric propulsion to reduce the cost of next-generation, Department of Defense-related space missions."
The AEHF-1 satellite was successfully launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster in August 2010, and was expected to reach geosynchronous orbit within 100 days. But the bi-propellant propulsion system on the satellite's main engine failed, stranding the AEHF-1 in the wrong orbit and placing it at risk of being a total loss.
The AEHF-1 Rescue Team was assembled and devised a plan to use the spacecraft's smaller hydrazine thrusters to lift the orbit above the atmosphere and then use the electric Hall thruster system to complete the orbit-raising mission--with whisper-like impulses--until it reached its desired orbit 14 months later.
More News
Touchdown Zone Lighting Two rows of transverse light bars located symmetrically about the runway centerline normally at 100 foot intervals. The basic system extends 3,000 feet alon>[...]
“Discovery and innovation are central to our mission at Virgin Galactic. We’re excited to build on our successful record of facilitating scientific experiments in subor>[...]
"We are reaching out to you today on behalf of the Popular Rotorcraft Association because we need your help. We are dangerously close to losing a critical resource that if lost, wi>[...]
UAS Traffic Management (UTM) The unmanned aircraft traffic management ecosystem that will allow multiple low altitude BVLOS operations and which is separate from, but complementary>[...]
Aero Linx: Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) SAFE is a member-oriented organization of aviation educators fostering professionalism and excellence in aviation through>[...]