AE Industrial Partners, a private investment firm focused on technologies and services considered critical to aerospace and national and economic security, announced that it has acquired a controlling interest in the Space Propulsion and Power Systems business of L3Harris Technologies. The transaction encompasses business units across five locations in the U.S., which have developed the upper-stage rocket engines used in national security, civil, and commercial missions for more than 60 years, as well as in-space propulsion, nuclear power, and avionics assets.

L3Harris will retain a minority investment interest and continue to act as a strategic partner to the business. AE Industrial plans to restore and use the “Rocketdyne” name for the acquired business in recognition of its heritage and longstanding innovation within space propulsion technology.

“Rocketdyne is more than just a company; it is the birthplace of U.S. rocket propulsion," said Kirk Konert, Managing Partner at AE Industrial. “This transaction will not only modernize and give new life to a pioneer of space and national defense technology, but it will also create a new hybrid model of agile collaboration, combining the stability and power of a national defense prime with the innovation of a specialized investor. By taking the historic engine – the RL10 – and applying modern manufacturing discipline, we will honor its design while revolutionizing the production line.”

The partnership between AE Industrial and L3Harris will also aim to help accelerate the development of future propulsion technologies, including nuclear propulsion, which will be critical to the exploration of Mars and the cislunar domain. Maintaining American dominance in space depends on leveraging top engineering talent to ensure the U.S. retains the strategic high ground through superior speed and maneuverability.

“Our strategy is to identify critical technologies and build them into world-class companies,” said Jon Lusczakoski, Principal at AE Industrial. “Rocketdyne’s unparalleled heritage offers the perfect foundation for this mission. We see a unique opportunity to apply our deep experience in scaling space systems to this iconic business—ensuring Rocketdyne remains a critical pillar of national security while aggressively evolving to meet the demands of the future.”

“The acquisition of Rocketdyne demonstrates AE Industrial’s continued commitment to investing in the national security space and space exploration markets,” said David Rowe, Co-CEO and Managing Partner at AE Industrial. “Current and previous space investments of AE Industrial include American Pacific Corporation, Calca Solutions, Firefly Aerospace, Redwire Space, and York Space Systems. All of these companies are critical market leaders, and the addition of Rocketdyne is a perfect fit to AE Industrial’s strategy and portfolio construction.”

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