May 22, 2003

Aerojet Solid Rocket Boosters Delivered to Florida for Support Of Atlas V Mid-Summer Launch

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 22, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) company, has delivered to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the two solid rocket boosters which will provide added performance for Lockheed Martin's next Atlas V mission. The 67-foot long solid rocket boosters were manufactured by Aerojet at its Sacramento, Calif., facility, and will be used to support the Atlas V 400 and 500 series launch vehicles.

Aerojet's solid rocket boosters will be mated to the third Atlas V, designated AV-003, at Lockheed Martin's Atlas V processing facilities at Cape Canaveral. The solid rocket boosters, designed to support the medium- to intermediate-lift versions of the Atlas V family of launch vehicles, were assembled and tested at Aerojet's Sacramento site. Atlas V launch vehicles are used to place commercial and government payloads into orbit. AV-003 is undergoing final processing and checkout in Lockheed Martin's Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral and is scheduled to launch the Rainbow satellite in July.

Aerojet produced the solid rocket boosters under a contract awarded by Lockheed Martin in 1999. The Atlas V can be configured with as many as five Aerojet solid rocket boosters, allowing unprecedented flexibility for incremental performance enhancements to meet customers' needs.

"The delivery of our solid rocket boosters is an exciting time for the hundreds of employees who have been dedicated to this program since 1999," said Mike Martin, Aerojet president. "We are extremely proud of the hard work of the Atlas team and anticipate the upcoming launch this summer with Aerojet's solid rocket boosters on board."

The Atlas V was developed under the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The development of technology necessary for the advanced design, test and fabrication of the Atlas solid rocket boosters is a product of Aerojet's aerospace heritage. The inherent reliability of Aerojet's solid boosters is the result of decades of flight-testing and real mission experience.

"Aerojet has done an outstanding job of completing these first production boosters and delivering them to the Atlas team at the Cape. This is another very significant milestone for the Atlas V program and all of us have been looking forward to this day," said Jim Sponnick, vice president for Atlas Programs at Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles. Sponnick added, "We are demonstrating the flexibility and capability of the Atlas V family of vehicles and the added performance that the solid rocket boosters provide. Weather permitting, the Atlas team plans to erect and mate both solids to AV-003 by the end of this week, which keeps us right on schedule for our July launch."

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 .

SOURCE Aerojet

Susan Bassett of Aerojet, +1-916-355-2310, or [email protected]; or Linda Cutler of GenCorp, Inc., +1-916-351-8650, or [email protected] http://www.gencorp.com