Private company

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

Logo: http://www.aero-news.net/images/content/aerospace/2009/PrattWhitney-Rocketdyne-logo-0509a.gif, Non-free logo, via Wikipedia3

Former American company that designed and produced rocket engines

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) was an American company that designed and produced rocket engines that use liquid propellants. It was a division of Pratt & Whitney, a fully owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. It was headquartered in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California.2 It ceased to exist in 2013.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2005Founded1

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) was an American company that designed and produced rocket engines that use liquid propellants. It was a division of Pratt & Whitney, a fully owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. It was headquartered in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California. In 2013, the company was sold to GenCorp, Inc., becoming part of Aerojet Rocketdyne.2

Corporate structure

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is part of a group headed by RTX. 224 entities, 36 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • RTX Wilmington, Delaware, United States
    • Anschütz Kiel, Germany
    • Blades Technology Nahariya, Israel
    • Hamilton Sundstrand Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
    • Pratt & Whitney East Hartford
      • Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Canoga Park
      • Engine Alliance Subsidiary · 50% · East Hartford
    • Raytheon Australia Canberra, Australia
    • Rockwell Collins Wilmington, United States
      • Rockwell Collins (United Kingdom) Subsidiary · United Kingdom
    • Rohr, Inc. Chula Vista, California, United States
    • United Technologies (Canada) Saint-John, New Brunswick, Canada
    • BBN Technologies Subsidiary · Cambridge
    • Blue Canyon Technologies Subsidiary · Boulder, United States
    • Collins Aerospace Subsidiary · Charlotte
    • Range Generation Next Subsidiary · Melbourne, United States
    • Raytheon Missiles & Defense Subsidiary · Tucson
    • SEAKR Engineering Subsidiary · Centennial, United States
    • "PRATT & WHITNEY TUBES" SPÓŁKA Z OGRANICZONĄ ODPOWIEDZIALNOŚCIĄ Subsidiary · Niepołomice, Poland
    • 3090445 NOVA SCOTIA LIMITED Subsidiary · Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
    • ADVANCED THERMAL SCIENCES CORPORATION Subsidiary · Anaheim, California, United States
    • ARINC (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd. Subsidiary · Singapore, Singapore
    • ARINC (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Subsidiary · Singapore, Singapore
    • ARINC INCORPORATED Subsidiary · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Inc. Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC INCORPORATED Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC INCORPORATED Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Incorporated - Canada Branch Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Incorporated - Hong Kong Branch Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Incorporated - Japan Branch Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Incorporated - Singapore Branch Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Incorporated - UAE Dubai DAFZA Branch Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • ARINC Incorporated - Zweigniederlassung Deutschland Branch · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
    • ARINC International of Canada ULC Subsidiary · Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
    • ARINC IRELAND LIMITED Subsidiary · Dublin, Ireland
    • B E AEROSPACE DAE SYSTEMS HISPANIA SL Subsidiary · Getafe, Spain
    • B/E AEROSPACE (GERMANY) GMBH Subsidiary · Hamburg, Germany
    • B/E Aerospace (Hong Kong) Limited Subsidiary · Wan chai, Hong Kong
    • and 182 more

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne was formed in 2005 when Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion and Boeing Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power were merged, following the latter's acquisition from Boeing by United Technologies Corporation. Boeing retained the 2,800 acre Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory property above Canoga Park while a majority of the engineering and design continued to be carried out at the Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion facility located on Beeline Highway outside West Palm Beach, Florida.

In July 2012, United Technologies Corporation agreed to sell Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to GenCorp, Inc., which also owns rocket engine producer Aerojet. The sale was completed in June 2013, when the company was merged with Aerojet to form Aerojet Rocketdyne.

From Wikipedia’s article on Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • rocket engine

Listed on Wikidata.1

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

RL10 (LH2/LOX) An American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Historic Landmark developed by Pratt & Whitney. Used on the Saturn I, the upper stage of the Delta IV, the Centaur upper stage for the Atlas and Titan rockets and on the vertical-landing McDonnell Douglas DC-X "Delta Clipper". It was intended to serve as the main propulsion engine for the Altair lunar lander. Currently in use on the Atlas V, Vulcan Centaur, Space Launch System Block 1, and in the future, Space Launch System Block 1B and Block 2. (Centaur III, Centaur V, Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System, and Exploration Upper Stage respectively.

RS-68 (LH2/LOX) First stage engine for the Delta IV.

RS-25 (LH2/LOX) Space Shuttle main engine and also used on the SLS core stage.

Read the full text

SJ61 (JP-7/ingested air) A dual-mode ramjet/scramjet engine flown on the Boeing X-51 hypersonic demonstration vehicle.

J-2X (LH2/LOX) Previously developed to be used on the Earth Departure Stage for the Block II of the Space Launch System, though the EDS was later replaced by the Exploration Upper Stage using 4 RL10 engines.

From Wikipedia’s article on Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Aerojet Rocketdyne1

Timeline

  1. Jun 2013Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 2005Founded Founded1