Rocketdyne to reappear with sale by L3Harris of its civilian rocket engine division
The name Rocketdyne is about to rise from the ashes with the sale by L3Harris of its civilian rocket engine division to the private equity firm AE Industrial Partners.
The firm is selling a 60 percent stake, worth $845 million, and maintaining about a 40 percent share of the space propulsion business unit, which focuses on technologies related to NASA and civil space activities. For example, its products include nuclear power systems for future missions to the moon and Mars, and the RL10 engine that powers the upper stage for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan heavy lifter.
That said, the RS-25 rocket engine business is excluded from the sale; the engine is the primary propulsion system on NASA’s Space Launch System being designed to send crews to the moon under the Artemis mission.
When L3Harris purchased Aerojet-Rocketdyne in 2023, the names of these two companies from the very beginnings of the space age vanished. It now appears that AE is going to bring one back.
AE Industrial ― which previously has invested in commercial space companies including York Space Systems, Redwire and Firefly — said in an announcement today that the new entity will be named Rocketdyne “in recognition of its heritage and longstanding innovation within space propulsion technology.”
Aerojet-Rocketdyne had been in trouble for years prior to is purchase, and it remains uncertain whether the engine part of this new Rocketdyne company can compete. Its main business right now is building the engines used by the SLS rocket, which in the long run has a limited future.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The name Rocketdyne is about to rise from the ashes with the sale by L3Harris of its civilian rocket engine division to the private equity firm AE Industrial Partners.
The firm is selling a 60 percent stake, worth $845 million, and maintaining about a 40 percent share of the space propulsion business unit, which focuses on technologies related to NASA and civil space activities. For example, its products include nuclear power systems for future missions to the moon and Mars, and the RL10 engine that powers the upper stage for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan heavy lifter.
That said, the RS-25 rocket engine business is excluded from the sale; the engine is the primary propulsion system on NASA’s Space Launch System being designed to send crews to the moon under the Artemis mission.
When L3Harris purchased Aerojet-Rocketdyne in 2023, the names of these two companies from the very beginnings of the space age vanished. It now appears that AE is going to bring one back.
AE Industrial ― which previously has invested in commercial space companies including York Space Systems, Redwire and Firefly — said in an announcement today that the new entity will be named Rocketdyne “in recognition of its heritage and longstanding innovation within space propulsion technology.”
Aerojet-Rocketdyne had been in trouble for years prior to is purchase, and it remains uncertain whether the engine part of this new Rocketdyne company can compete. Its main business right now is building the engines used by the SLS rocket, which in the long run has a limited future.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
That’s a surprise. AE Industrial appears to be covering multiple segments of the space economy with their investments-launch, defense, propulsion. Who do they see other than ULA as a potential buyer for cheaper RL10s?
Tom Mueller had a rather harsh comment about this development today on X: “In my previous-previous life at TRW, Rocketdyne would thwart our every effort to get a foothold in booster engines. The TRW 650K engine would have been a better/cheaper solution for Delta IV. I am proud to be one of the instigators of the demise of this terrible company!”
https://x.com/lrocket/status/2008611318232990185
To which Rand Simberg responded: “When I was in Downey at Rockwell, early 90s, we were trying to do a deal with American Rocket for Delta boosters using hybrids. Rocketdyne sabotaged us in Huntsville.”
Some hard feelings there, even after 30 years!
I suspect we will be seeing more such deals going forward. OldSpace is moribund pretty much across the board. NewSpace is not. So the latter can be expected to ingest the former, one bite at a time or even in bigger pieces if it finds sufficient potential nutrition remaining. There is, for example, an interesting bit of gossip now going around to the effect that Rocket Lab may buy ULA. That, should it eventuate, will make this AEI deal for a piece of Rocketdyne look like pretty small beer by comparison.
Nate P,
Good question. Perhaps AEI is looking at using the RL-10 for the upper stage of the Firefly Eclipse vehicle now in development.
Richard M,
I’m sure Mueller’s animus toward Rocketdyne is entirely justified but part of the reason the TRW 650K engine never went anywhere was due to TRW failing to fight adequately for a place for it.
“Notably, L3Harris will maintain 100% ownership of the RS-25 rocket engine program, the core propulsion system for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) used in the Artemis lunar missions.”
https://news.satnews.com/2026/01/04/l3harris-nears-500-million-stake-sale-of-space-propulsion-assets-to-ae-industrial-partners/
The RS-25 is the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME).