Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), marked a key milestone today when the company officially broke ground on a new, 136,000-square-foot manufacturing facility located in Huntsville, Alabama.
During a ceremony, attended by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and other local dignitaries, the company took the next step in its journey to expand its existing presence in the region with a new, state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Facility.
Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Advanced Manufacturing Facility to be located in Huntsville, Alabama.
Aerojet Rocketdyne earlier announced that it was headquartering its Defense business unit in Huntsville, along with its defense advanced programs group known as the Rocket Shopâ„ , bringing roughly 800 new jobs to the region. In addition to the new manufacturing facility, Aerojet Rocketdyne recently leased 122,000 square feet of office space at 950 Explorer Blvd. in Cummings Research Park to accommodate newly hired employees and those relocating to Huntsville from other company locations. The changes are part of a larger Competitive Improvement Program the company launched in 2015 that is on track to deliver $230 million in annual savings once complete.
The new Advanced Manufacturing Facility, which is expected to begin production by the end of 2019, will be used to build a variety of aerospace products, including production work on the AR1 advanced rocket engine; composite cases for solid rocket motors; case pneumatic and hydrostatic proofing; and additive manufacturing (3-D printing) production work to support of a variety of programs in the space and defense sectors. This new facility will also be used to conduct advanced rocket propulsion research and development activities.
Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake said that the new Advanced Manufacturing Facility is an essential component of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Competitive Improvement Program. The steps being taking are focused on making the company increasingly agile and able to deliver high-quality, affordable products to customers as Aerojet Rocketdyne is positioned for the future.