The Aerospace Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Aerospace Corportation | |
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| Type | Not-for-profit corporation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | El Segundo, California, USA |
| Key people | Dr. William F. Ballhaus Jr. (President and CEO) |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Employees | 3500 |
| Website | www.aero.org |
The Aerospace Corporation is a non-profit engineering and science organization headquartered in El Segundo, California. It was created out of TRW[1] in 1960 officially "to aid the United States Air Force in applying the full resources of modern science and technology to the problem of achieving those continuing advances in ballistic missiles and military space systems which are basic to national security." Its status as a non-profit - specifically as a Federally-Funded Research & Development Center (FFRDC) - allows Aerospace to act as a trusted agent of the U.S. Government.
Among the earliest projects it supported were the Dyna-Soar orbital spaceplane, Project Mercury, and the man-rating of the Atlas (rocket) intercontinental ballistic missile. The Aerospace Corporation provided general systems engineering and technical direction for the Titan II missile, first tested in 1962, which became the launch vehicle for Project Gemini.
Other notable projects with the involvement of The Aerospace Corporation include the advanced ballistic re-entry system (ABRES), the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS), the Defense Support Program (DSP), the Space Shuttle and the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS). Other launch vehicle programs for which The Aerospace Corporation provided technical assistance have included the Delta II, Delta III and Delta IV, the Atlas II , the Atlas III and the Atlas V.
Beginning in 1973, The Aerospace Corporation initiated and developed the Global Positioning System (GPS). In recognition of this achievement, the Corporation shared aviation's highest honor, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, in 1992.
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[edit] References
- ^ Maier, M.W., E. Rechtin (2000). The Art of Systems Engineering, 2nd Ed., Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC, pp. 16. ISBN 0-8493-0440-7., "...led Congress to mandate the formation in 1960 of a non-profit engineering company, The Aerospace Corporation, out of the for-profit TRW Corporation..."
