Rocketdyne
The Rocketdyne Division was founded by North American Aviation (NAA) in 1955, and was later part of Rockwell International (1967-1996) and Boeing (1996-2005). In 2005, the Rocketdyne Division was sold to United Technologies Corporation, becoming Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne as part of Pratt & Whitney. In 2013, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne was sold to GenCorp, which merged it with Aerojet to form Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Aerojet Rocketdyne
Aerojet Rocketdyne is an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company is owned by Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings. Aerojet Rocketdyne was formed in 2013 when Aerojet (then owned by GenCorp) and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne were merged, following the latter's acquisition by GenCorp from Pratt & Whitney. On April 27, 2015, the name of the holding company, GenCorp, was changed from "GenCorp, Inc." to "Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc".
The AR1 is a thrust RP-1/LOX advanced oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle engine project. Aerojet Rocketdyne proposed in 2014 to "lobby the government to fund an all-new, U.S.-sourced rocket propulsion system." In June 2014, Aerojet's initially projected it would cost under per pair of engines, not including the up to estimated development cost to be funded by the government. Later in 2014, the US Congress passed a law requiring the US Air Force to "develop a new propulsion system by 2019 to replace the RD-180 engine" that powers Atlas V used by United Launch Alliance (ULA). Dynetics is a key partner in development of the AR1 engine. Under a joint venture agreement, Dynetics is to supply elements of the engine's main propulsion system, the ignition system, and ground support equipment, along with analysis support to critical engine designs.