The Lockheed Propulsion Company was founded in 1952 as the Grand Central Rocket Company by Major
C. C. Moseley, co-founder of
Western Airlines and
Charles E. Bartley, the inventor of rubber-based solid rocket fuel propellants. The company announced on 22 December 1953, that a plant for manufacturing solid fuel rocket propellant would be built in the Redlands-Mentone area, and that negotiations with the Redlands City Council for 160 acres of city-owned land in East Lugonia were underway. The facility was expected to begin operation within 90 days. At the outset, 53 highly skilled technicians would be employed. In 1954, the company began operations at a 1,100 acre (?) site in the Mentone area. By 1956, the firm had 130 employees, and was expanding, said President Charles E. Bartley. The U.S. Navy announced on 5 April 1956 that Grand Central Rocket Co. had been selected to build the solid-propellant third-stage rocket for
Project Vanguard. The Redlands plant provided the ABL X-248 Altair third stage of the
Vanguard 1 satellite launch vehicle in 1958. Vanguard 1 and this upper stage remain in orbit, making them the oldest still-in-orbit artificial satellites. Grand Central signed a contract to produce the solid rocket motor for the
Project Mercury escape tower. This motor was ultimately produced by Lockheed when the Redlands plant was sold to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Grand Central was acquired by Lockheed in February 1960 to become the Lockheed Propulsion Company as a research and production facility of solid fuel rockets and solid rocket propellant. Between 1966 and 1975, the
Boeing Company sub-contracted with Lockheed Propulsion Company for propellants used in the
AGM-69 short-range attack missile. For the
Apollo program, Lockheed Propulsion Company provided both the Launch Escape Motor and the Pitch Control Motor of the emergency escape tower atop the Apollo command module, using propellant made of
polysulfides. On 27 January 1972, the
Marshall Spaceflight Center selected
Aerojet-General, Lockheed Propulsion Company,
Thiokol Chemical Company, and
United Technology Center to study the use of 120-inch and 156-inch solid motors as part of the
Space Shuttle booster package. Thiokol was ultimately selected as the
solid rocket booster provider on 20 November 1973. In January 1974, Lockheed protested to the
General Accounting Office (GAO) NASA's selection of Thiokol as designer of the SRB. Because of the protest, NASA issued Thiokol a 90-day study contract on 13 February so the firm could continue its work while GAO studied the situation. The study contract was extended again on 20 May for 45 days. In May 1975, NASA confirmed the Thiokol SRB contract. With the end of the Apollo project contracts, and no orders for the Space Shuttle program, as well as the conclusion of the
AGM-69 SRAM project, Lockheed Propulsion Company was closed and sold in 1975. ==Environmental pollution==