Aerojet Celebrates 50 Years of Satellite Launches

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, announced today that March 17th marked a significant day in Aerojet's history. On March 17, 1958 the United States launched the Vanguard-1 mission. This was the second U.S. satellite placed into orbit. The tracking data from the small payload revealed that the shape of the Earth has a north-south asymmetry. The payload was also used to determine upper atmospheric densities as a function of altitude, latitude, season and solar activity. This payload is still orbiting the Earth and is the oldest satellite in space.

The significance to Aerojet is that the second stage was powered by an Aerojet AJ10-118 engine, an early version of the AJ10-118K engine that powered the Delta II mission that flew on March 15, 2008. While many new engines have been developed at Aerojet over the years, this evolved engine has an unmatched track record. "We are proud of our 50-year record as a launch proven, rocket engine provider," said Aerojet President Scott Neish.

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, defense 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. Additional information about Aerojet and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies' Web sites at http://www.aerojet.com/ and
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Source: Aerojet

CONTACT: Glenn Mahone, +1-202-302-9941, Glenn.Mahone@Aerojet.com, or
Kristin Conner, +1-916-355-2143, Kristin.Conner@Aerojet.com, both of Aerojet;
or Linda Cutler of GenCorp, +1-916-351-8650, Linda.Cutler@GenCorp.com

Web site: http://www.aerojet.com/
http://www.gencorp.com/

2008-03-19 18:35:27 0316783 PRNEWSWIRE