Chatsworth-Made Rockets Tested In Space Flight

CHATSWORTH, CA — Four Chatsworth-built rocket engines blasted off into space on Thursday, according to a report in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, an El Segundo-based aerospace manufacturer, test-fired four engines on its Space Launch System, a heavy-lift rocket that NASA is developing to plan future manned missions to the moon and possibly Mars. The RS-25 engines are attached to the bottom of the core stage of rockets.

The engines ran for 499 seconds during a test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, simulating an actual space launch flight.

The engines were manufactured at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Chatsworth campus at the intersection of Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue. After inspections, the rockets will travel by barge to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to prepare for the first flight, according to SFVBJ.

Meanwhile, the Chatsworth facility is preparing to manufacture more engines.