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.
Space Vector Corporation
Space Vector was founded in 1969 to supply NASA with Miniature Inertial Digital Attitude System (MIDAS) platforms and reaction control systems for use on sounding rockets. In 1972, Space Vector secured the right to use surplus Minuteman I motors for guided, suborbital rockets which it later names Aries. Over the next 20 years Space Vector successfully launched 30 Aries rockets in support of a variety of microgravity scientific experiments. Based on its experience working with Minuteman assets, Space Vector was tasked by Lockheed in 1980 to help develop the Homing Overlay Experiment (HOE) booster for the U.S. Army which would go on to become the first successful hit-to-kill intercept of a mock ballistic missile warhead outside the Earth’s atmosphere. This technology was later used by the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and expanded into the Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interception System (ERIS) program. In 1982 Space Vector was tapped by Space Services Inc. of America (SSIA) to fabricate and launch the Conestoga I off Matagorda Island, Texas which became the first privately funded rocket to reach space.