The AFSPC-5 mission will mark the 109th successful launch of a US mission into orbit or deep space involving cryogenic fuel control valves manufactured and tested by Atec for the RL10 final stage rocket engine. Over the 18 years that Atec has produced the valves, thrust on the various versions of these Aerojet Rocketdyne engines has increased from 15,000 to 24,750 lbs. Multiple burns and throttling have been innovated, and overall reliability has become legendary.
At the recent MMS 4-in-1 magnetospheric satellite deployment, Atec was hosted for the launch by ULA at its Canaveral mission control and observation facility. Other notable Atec involved missions in the news include last December’s Orion new manned spacecraft test launch, the 2006 New Horizons probe encountering Pluto and its moons this summer, the famous LCROSS mission where the lunar surface was deep crash penetrated with Atec produced valves now permanently on the moon, and the just awarded Solar Probe Plus that will study and traverse the solar corona edge in 2018. Our valves have recently been selected in RL10s for Stratolaunch by Orbital Science. “Our space team is immensely proud of Atec’s performance for the U.S. space launch network,” said Paul Fenley, Atec President.
Atec is also involved in manned space exploration with our production of Boeing’s smart battery modules for the International Space Station. Involving precision machining, exact coating processes, complex electronics, cleanroom assembly & test, stringent inspection and thorough reporting & documentation – the project is perfect for Atec’s turnkey capabilities.
We have a proud history in America’s race to space, with our founder’s involvement in NASA/JSC, the Canaveral Vehicle Assembly Building and the Crawler. Later projects included the Titan fuel counters, frangible nuts production, ISS robotic arm parts and Airborne Laser components.
Space Tech Expo in Long Beach is Atec’s next public display of its growing space production business. “Atec has a strong group of engineers and manufacturing support personnel to ensure the fail-safe quality of our space products,” relayed Atec Chairman, Howard Lederer, who is here in attendance.
We look forward to seeing you at Space Tech, May 19-21, 2015.
