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Alliant Techsystems of Utah and its partners unveiled on Tuesday a two-stage rocket called Liberty that it hopes will be the next launch vehicle for the U.S. space program.
It's the latest effort by ATK, the military contractor with 2,100 Utah employees in the company's aerospace division, to revamp a propulsion system partially stalled by the Obama administration.
The Liberty would use a Utah-built rocket motor as the first stage, while ATK partners with the European company Astrium to complete the launch vehicle.
ATK hopes NASA will accept the company's bid to use the rocket, perhaps preserving 400 Utah jobs and adding a few more.
"The spirit in the hallways around here has noticeably improved," said former NASA shuttle astronaut Jim Halsell, now an ATK vice president.
ATK has gone through a series of layoffs in the past several years as defense spending changed gears and President Barack Obama refocused the space program to include a wider commercial development of space rockets.
NASA is accepting project proposals for the next generation of rockets to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
ATK said it will build Liberty using existing dollars, but it hopes NASA will award the company a portion of a $200 million pool of money set aside for promising projects. The company with operations in Utah said that, with the money, it can move up the test launch to 2013.
"This approach allows NASA to utilize the investments that have already been made in our nation's ground infrastructure and propulsion systems for the space exploration program," said Charlie Precourt, general manager of ATK Space Launch Systems.
But Congress is still struggling with budget decisions that could affect appropriations to the space program. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, urged congressional leaders to continue to invest in spaceflight.
"Far too many forget that, at one time in our nation's history, we were losing the space race. If NASA's manned space program disappears, our nation will once again experience a 'Sputnik moment.' Our country will again watch from the sidelines as countries like Russia, China and India charge ahead as leaders in space exploration and missile defense," Bishop said.
ATK's portion of Liberty is a rocket motor that was tested twice in Utah and originally designed for the Constellation program, a NASA proposal to return humans to the moon that was derailed after $9 billion was spent to get it going.
The motor is also derived from the space shuttle's four-segment, solid rocket boosters, which were built by ATK and have flown 107 missions since 1988.
The company said the new launch vehicle will also have other commercial purposes.
It's possible that NASA may announce if Liberty is the winning proposal by next month. —
ATK rocket proposal
P Liberty would be a two-stage launcher able to deliver 44,500 pounds to the International Space Station, which would give it a capability to carry any crew vehicle that is in development. ATK said the initial flight is possible by the end of 2013, a second test flight in 2014 and operational capability in 2015.