THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) announced today that its subsidiary, Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., in Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded a contract by the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) for a technology transfer and flight hardware upgrade program which could be valued up to $17.6 million. This program is a continuation of a phase 1 contract started in 2013. The new award is for phases 2 and 3 that begin in 2014 and would conclude in 2018.
This Technology Maturation Program will transfer JPL’s lab scale skutterudite thermoelectric material production processes, sponsored by the NASA Radioisotope Power Systems Program, and mature them into flight-like materials and components. These components could be incorporated into an enhanced MMRTG (Multi Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) or eMMRTG. The original MMRTG was developed for NASA by Teledyne and Aerojet Rocketdyne, under a U.S. Department of Energy led program. An MMRTG is currently providing power to the Mars Curiosity rover, which successfully landed on Mars in August 2012. It is expected that the eMMRTG would have a 25-30% higher efficiency than the MMRTG.
“We are happy to build on our more than 40-year heritage of providing power systems for NASA’s deep space missions,” said Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teledyne Technologies. “The SNAP-19 RTG on the Pioneer and Viking missions and now the MMRTG on the Mars Curiosity rover provide the highest level of reliability to support NASA’s critical science missions. The new thermoelectric materials in the eMMRTG should enable the next evolutionary step providing more capability to future space missions.”
Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies, is a leader in providing advanced technologies and products to customers seeking solutions for their toughest energy requirements in the most demanding environments. For more information on its technologies and products visit www.teledynees.com
Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated instrumentation, digital imaging products and software, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems. Teledyne Technologies’ operations are primarily located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Western and Northern Europe. For more information, visit Teledyne Technologies’ website at www.teledyne.com.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is a division of GenCorp, and is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense, strategic, tactical missile, and armaments areas in support of domestic and international markets. GenCorp is a diversified company providing innovative solutions to its customers in the aerospace and defense, and real estate markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies’ websites at www.Rocket.com and www.GenCorp.com.
The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. www.jpl.nasa.gov
Forward-Looking Statements Cautionary Notice
This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, relating to a contract award. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors could change anticipated results, including funding, continuation and award of government programs, as well as cuts to government spending resulting from future deficit reduction measures.
