Aerojet Awarded $8.6 Million Contract to Build Hall Thruster Propulsion Subsystem for Advanced EHF

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 4, 2003 -- Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) company, announced today the contract signing for an $8.634 million contract to supply the first production Hall thruster propulsion subsystem for Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles, Sunnyvale, Calif. These new generation electric propulsion thrusters will be used on the Air Force’s next generation of highly secure military communications satellites known as the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system.

The award was earned, in large part, due to the successful progress of a multi-year development and qualification effort undertaken by Aerojet and Lockheed Martin. The Hall thruster, developed by Aerojet, provides roughly six times the fuel efficiency of today’s conventional chemical propulsion systems. The thruster system will be used for both orbit transfer, as well as on-orbit station keeping propulsion. The gain in efficiency allows larger payloads to be launched on smaller, lower cost launch vehicles.

Lockheed Martin is currently under contract to provide the first two AEHF satellites and command and control systems. These satellites will provide more secure data throughout capability and coverage flexibility to regional and global military operations than ever before and will be made in late 2004 with the first AEHF flight now scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, and defense and armaments markets. GenCorp Inc. is a multi-national, technology-based manufacturer with leading positions in the automotive, aerospace, defense and pharmaceutical fine chemicals industries. For more information, please visit http://www.aerojet.com and http://www.gencorp.com.

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