Four rocket motors from East Hartford’s Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne division propelled a U.S. military satellite into orbit on Thursday, lifting the first rocket ever launched from the West Coast.
The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket was carrying a satellite designed for national security purposes when three Pratt booster engines and one upper-state engine propelled it into orbit from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The three Pratt booster engines are the world’s largest hydrogen-fueled engines and can lift 758,000 pounds in a vacuum or 663,000 pounds at sea-level. The upper-stage engine provided specific impulse for 465 seconds.
Pratt & Whitney is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford.
