One of Central Florida’s biggest aerospace companies is taking on a lot more rocket power as L3Harris Technologies announced it was acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne.
The Melbourne-based defense contractor L3Harris said Sunday it would pay $58 a share for a total cash acquisition of $4.7 billion, which includes net debt, according to a press release.
The deal is expected to close in 2023, the release said, using existing cash and by taking on new debt.
“We’ve heard the DoD leadership loud and clear: they want high-quality, innovative and cost-effective solutions to meet both current and emerging threats, and they’re relying upon a strong, competitive industrial base to deliver those solutions,” said L3Harris CEO and Chairman Christopher E. Kubasik in the release. “With this acquisition, we will use the combined talents of more than 50,000 employees to drive continuous process improvement, enhance business operations and elevate the performance of this crucial national asset.”
L3Harris has sundry defense and commercial contracts, while Aerojet Rocketdyne is most known for its development of rocket engines.
Aerojet is headquartered in El Segundo, California, and employs 5,200 people across several manufacturing facilities, including West Palm Beach and Orlando. It makes propulsion systems for the Department of Defense, NASA and others.
The company’s RL-10 engines have been constructed in West Palm Beach for nearly 60 years, first as part of Pratt & Whitney, which in time was acquired by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Versions have been used on the upper stages of Titan and Saturn rockets in the past, including early flights of the Apollo program.
They currently are used in United Launch Alliance Atlas V and Delta IV rockets in the second stage and were most recently the source of propulsion to send NASA’s Orion capsule on its way to the moon as part of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage on Artemis I.
They will be used on the same ICPS on Artemis II and III and then four RL-10s will be placed on the ICPS replacement, the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage, beginning with Artemis IV that will provide 100,000 pounds of thrust in space to move massive amounts of cargo along with Orion to the moon.
It will also continue to be the second-stage engine for ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur, and with a massive task order of ULA launches related to Amazon’s internet satellite constellation Project Kuiper, the company has a back order of about 100 engines that mean a constant supply chain of engines over the next decade.
It also builds the RS-25 engines that were formerly used to power the space shuttles, and now provide the thrust for the Space Launch System rockets for NASA’s Artemis program.
The company makes about $2.3 billion in annual revenue with other manufacturing facilities in Canoga Park, California; Camden, Arkansas; Huntsville, Alabama; Orange, Virginia; Redmond, Washington; Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Jonesborough, Tennessee; and Carlstadt, New Jersey.
L3Harris has more than $17 billion in annual revenue, the release stated.
“This agreement will accelerate innovation for national security propulsion solutions while providing a premium cash value for our shareholders and tremendous benefits for our employees, customers, partners and the communities in which we operate,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen P. Drake. “Joining L3Harris is a testament to the world-class organization and team we’ve built and represents a natural next phase of our evolution.”
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