Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, in southern California.

NAA had begun to use the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) high in the Simi Hills around 1947 for the Navaho's rocket engine testing.

As the missile entered production, NAA spun off Rocketdyne in 1955 as a separate division, and built its new plant in the then small Los Angeles suburb of Canoga Park, in the San Fernando Valley near and below its Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

In February 2005, Boeing reached an agreement to sell what was by then referred to as "Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power" to Pratt & Whitney of United Technologies Corporation.

North American Aviation's rocket development activities began with engine tests nearby the Los Angeles Airport.

In 1954, North American Aviation purchased 56 acres of land within the current Warner Center area then deeded the property to the Air Force.

A pedestrian tunnel underneath Victory Boulevard east of Canoga Avenue provided access between buildings to the South (including the Headquarters) and those located to the North of the street.

With the completion of the Apollo program in 1969, Rocketdyne ended the leases of several facilities and returned the headquarters offices to the Canoga Main building.

[9] Six specific periods of liquid rocket engine development and manufacturing programs took place at the Canoga plant: Atlas (1954-late 1960s), Thor (1961-1975), Jupiter (1955-1962), Saturn (1961-1975); Apollo (1961-1972); Space Shuttle (1981-2011).

The purchase caused Rocketdyne to invest in facilities and research at McGregor towards diversification into other propellant types and rockets engines.

The group also built solid propellant boosters providing for the zero-length launching of North American F-100 Super Sabre and Lockheed F-104 Starfighter aircraft.

The motor provided a takeoff thrust of 130,000 lbf for 4 seconds, accelerating the aircraft to 275 miles per hour and 4 g before separating and dropping away from the jet.

In 1959, the group began using ammonium perchlorate oxidizer combined with carboxyl-terminated polybutadiene (CTPB) binder to produce solid propellants marketed under the trade name "Flexadyne."

For the next nineteen years, Rocketdyne used the formulation in the production of solid rocket motors for three major missile systems: the AIM-7 Sparrow III, AGM-45 Shrike, and the AIM-54 Phoenix.

The plant was constructed by the U.S. Air Force within a 2,000-acre portion of Fort Crowder, a decommissioned World War II training base.

"[16] Rocketdyne established and operated a 120,000 acre rocket engine test and development facility nearby Reno, Nevada from 1962 until 1970.

[18][19] In addition to its primary business of building rocket engines, Rocketdyne has developed power generation and control systems.

[20] In the Boeing sale to Pratt & Whitney, the Power Systems division of Rocketdyne was transferred to Hamilton Sundstrand, another subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation.