Aerojet Rocketdyne Provides Propulsion for NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement Satellite

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp GY company, provided propulsion for NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite, launched from JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center in Japan aboard a Japanese H-IIA rocket. Once separated from the launch vehicle, the GPM satellite uses 12 Aerojet Rocketdyne MR-106L 5.0 lbf monopropellant thrusters for attitude control.

"We are proud to be part of a mission that will help advance understanding of Earth's water and energy cycles, improve the forecasting of extreme events that cause natural disasters, and make use of satellite precipitation information to directly benefit society," said Warren Yasuhara, vice president of Space Systems at Aerojet Rocketdyne. "Knowing what the weather brings is a key part of being prepared—at work, at home and on the road, and the Aerojet Rocketdyne team is honored to help deliver this capability."

The GPM Core Observatory is an international satellite designed to provide advanced observations of rain and snowfall worldwide, several times a day to enhance scientists' understanding of the water and energy cycles that drive Earth's climate. The data will be used to calibrate precipitation measurements made by an international network of partner satellites to quantify when, where and how much it rains or snows around the world.

With the addition of the new Core Observatory, the satellites in the GPM constellation will include the NASA-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership mission; the NASA-JAXA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM); and several other satellites managed by JAXA, NOAA, the U.S. Department of Defense, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, the Centre National D'Etudies Spatiales of France, and the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Aerojet Rocketdyne is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. GenCorp is a diversified company that provides innovative solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense, and real estate markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies' websites at www.Rocket.com and www.GenCorp.com.