X 37B Launch

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne today helped boost into orbit the U.S. military's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, demonstrating its continued support for the nation's long-term goals of affordable, responsive and routine space exploration. The mission was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V is powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 booster engine and a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10 upper-stage engine. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. RD AMROSS LLC is a joint venture of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and NPO Energomash.

The second Boeing X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV-2) launched into space on 5 March, riding atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from space launch complex-41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The flight is a follow-up to the 270-day mission of the OTV-1 that ended on 3 December, with the spacecraft de-orbiting and landing at Vandenberg AFB, California.

The X-37B launches come under the rapid capabilities office, and are officially described as aimed at demonstrating a reusable, unmanned testbed for orbital missions.

The latest mission will enable enable the capabilities office to "further experiment with the vehicle and its ability to operate in low-Earth orbit," says Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing space and intelligence systems.