Rocketdyne: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Rocketdyne F-1 engine being
installed in Saturn V booster.

Rocketdyne is the premier rocket engine design and production company in the United States.

The company was founded in 1955 in Canoga Park, California. It merged with North American Aviation in 1984. NAA merged with Rockwell International Corporation, which was then bought by Boeing in December, 1996. As such, Rocketdyne is currently a part of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. (See aerospace consolidation.)

Some of the engines developed by Rocketdyne are:

H-1 : RP-1/LOX. used by the Saturn I, Ib, Jupiter, and some Delta rockets

F-1 : RP-1/LOX. used by the Saturn V.

J-2 : LH2/LOX. used by both the Saturn V and Saturn IB.

SSME : LH2/LOX. the Space Shuttle Main Engine

RS-68 : LH2/LOX. used by the Delta IV first stage

RS-27A : RP-1/LOX. used by the Delta II/III and Atlas ICBM

Many Rocketdyne engines were tested at Boeing's Santa Susana Field Laboratory, (SSFL), located in the Santa Susana Mountain Range and Simi Hills, (northwest of Los Angeles, and Chatsworth, California). Rocketdyne also has facilities at Canoga Park, Downey, and Palmdale, California.

Rocketdyne produced many projects and programs concurrently with Edwards Air Force Base located in the Antelope Valley within the high desert area of California at Rosamond, as did the aerospace industry corporation, Lockheed, now known as Lockheed Martin.