Alliant caught up in fate of Ares: Alliant Tech has a huge financial stake in the Ares rocket, which faces an uncertain future.

Oct 29, 2009 (Star Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ATK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- After more than a day of delays, clouds broke enough Wednesday to allow NASA to launch the Ares I-X from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The minutes-long test flight of the prototype Ares I rocket, equipped with hundreds of sensors, was a major achievement for Alliant Techsystems, a key contractor on the Ares I program. But the Eden Prairie-based space contractor still faces political clouds, as the Obama administration considers pulling the plug on the Ares I project, heralded as the next-generation of America's space program.

Decisions in Washington are closely tied to Alliant Tech's bottom line and employment levels. In its most recent fiscal year that ended in March, about 70 percent of Alliant's business was linked to the Department of Defense and NASA.

The company's space systems division supplied about $1.6 billion in sales revenue in fiscal 2009, out of total sales of $4.6 billion. About $700 million of that revenue came from Alliant's work on the space shuttle and Ares programs, company spokesman Brian Grace said Wednesday. He estimated another $700 million will flow to Alliant Tech in the 2010 fiscal year for those two programs.

The technical accomplishments of Wednesday's test flight in Florida will now be among the factors weighed in Washington by politicians assessing the direction the space program should take as NASA prepares to phase out the space shuttle. The president and Congress are weighing the political and budget considerations of space exploration.

'Unsustainable trajectory'

Last week, a 10-member panel appointed by the Obama administration raised questions about the Ares I program and spelled out some alternatives, but it didn't make a specific recommendation.

"The human space flight program that the United States is currently pursuing is one that is on an unsustainable trajectory," panel chairman Norm Augustine said at a press conference last week. "We say that because of a mismatch between scope of the program and the funds to support the program."

The panel concluded that the Ares I launch vehicle and Orion space capsule programs are "reasonably well managed," and Augustine said NASA and its contractors have the capacity to solve technical problems.

But the panel is concerned about gaps in funding and programming under the current space strategy. Augustine said the shuttle is scheduled to be "flown out" by the end of fiscal year 2010, the international space station is expected to be "deorbited into the South Pacific" in 2015 and the Ares I "is not likely to be available before about 2017."

If Obama decides to craft a new path for the U.S. space program, it would have a major impact on Alliant Tech because of its pivotal role in the Ares I program. But the company undoubtedly would be among the key bidders for any replacement program.

Four years on Ares I

Since the inception of the space shuttle program, Alliant and its predecessor businesses have been involved in building the "reusable solid rocket motors that provide most of the thrust at liftoff to the space shuttle," said Grace, the company's spokesman.

Alliant Tech, long known as a defense contractor, acquired Thiokol Propulsion in 2001 and immediately became a big player in the space program.

Four years ago, NASA chose Alliant Tech to help develop the Ares I first stage, which consists of a five-segment solid rocket booster. In 2007, Alliant Tech's role was broadened, when it was awarded a $1.8 billion contract to develop and support test flights for the Ares I crew launch vehicle.

Blake Larson, Alliant's Space Systems president, said Wednesday that the successful launch "continues to demonstrate decades of flawless performance and the progress ATK and NASA have made to develop the most reliable and affordable family of solid rocket motors ever produced."

While Grace declined to comment on Alliant Tech's lobbying strategy, CEO Dan Murphy, a retired Navy vice admiral, is a familiar figure in Washington.

It's unclear precisely what the employment and revenue impacts would be on Alliant Tech if the Ares I program is scrapped or revamped. The company recently cut 550 jobs in Utah, where many of its space-related jobs are based, as NASA phases out the space shuttle program.

In the first quarter of 2010, sales in Alliant's space systems division dropped 11 percent to $364 million. That was partly due to the anticipated drawdown of the Minuteman III missile program.

While the direction of the space program is set outside of Alliant Tech, Grace said that his company will focus on "bringing the most cutting-edge technologies to NASA to further space exploration and above all make it safe."

Liz Fedor --612-673-7709

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