Volvo Flygmotor soon expanded its activities into the manufacture of subcomponents for several international engine manufacturers, including General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce Plc. Seeking to further growth of its commercial operations, Volvo Flygmotor became involved in the European Space Program, producing a number of components for the rocket engines that power the Ariane of heavy launch vehicles. The firm successfully expanded significantly beyond its domestic market. Recognised that that its name needed to be easily recognised internationally, the company changed its name to the "Volvo Aero Corporation" during the early 1990s. By the late 1990s, Volvo Aero's component range included fan cases, fan-compressor structures, compressor rotors, shafts, combustor structures, vanes, low-pressure turbine (LPT) cases, turbine structures, rocket nozzles, combustion chambers, and rocket engine turbines for both civilian and military purposes. By 2003, the firm's workforce comprised 3,600 employees, it also recorded total sales of 0.9 billion euros during that year. Presently, Volvo Aero is a partner in more than ten commercial engine programmes and components produced by the company are installed in more than 90% of all large commercial aircraft engines sold. During the 2000s, further efforts were made by Volvo Aero towards close cooperation with various industrial partners. During July 2008, Volvo Aero and Rolls-Royce signed a risk-and-revenue-sharing agreement for the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan engine, under which Volvo Aero developed and manufactured the intermediate compressor case, a key engine component; the firm estimated this contract's value to be SEK40 billion over 40 years. In November 2008, Pratt & Whitney and Volvo Aero Norge agreed for the latter to produce diffuser case components for the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine; that same year, Volvo Aero secured work on the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engine as well. In June 2009, SNECMA and Volvo Aero agreed on the principles of a five-year partnership between the two companies in the space propulsion sector. Following the start of the Great Recession in 2008, Volvo Aero shared in the general downturn in business activity. In January 2009, Volvo Aero announced the redundancy of 250 blue collar and 100 white collar employees; a further cut of 200 positions was announced as a result of the economic downturn in June 2009. A year-on-year downwards trend in its sales activity was observed in the years surrounding this time, stimulating parent company Volvo to examine the company's future prospects.