Saverio “Sonny” Morea was born on January 23, 1932. Gifted in mathematics, he completed Brooklyn Technical High School’s Aeronautical Engineering Curriculum, graduating in 1950, and he received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1954.

In 1954, Morea began his professional career as a design engineer; he worked for Aerophysics Department of North American Aviation, he worked on the Navaho missile, specifically its wind tunnel aft body design.

As a member of the Army, Morea worked with von Braun's team and helped develop the Redstone ballistic missile.

In 1957, Morea resumed his civilian status; Morea helped develop the Jupiter missile’s S-D3 liquid-propellant rocket engine and served as the project engineer for Saturn booster family’s H-1 rocket engines.

After becoming a charter member of the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960, Morea served as the project manager for the F-1 rocket engine, oversaw the necessary changes to the J-2 engine to make it safe for space flight, and headed the development of the Lunar Roving Vehicle at von Braun's behest.

Morea has authored and coauthored multiple works on topics such as the Lunar Roving Vehicle, high pressure oxygen-hydrogen rocket propulsion, and the F-1 rocket engine.