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ATK Awarded Contract to Produce Composite Aeroskirts for New Delta IV Launch Vehicles

Contract Expands Participation in Key Long-Term Program

Nov 2, 2000

ATK (NYSE: ATK) (Alliant Techsystems) said it has been awarded a contract from The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, Calif., to manufacture composite aeroskirts for the new Boeing Delta IV family of space launch vehicles. Deliveries under the contract will continue through 2003.

The Delta IV aeroskirts will be manufactured by ATK Aerospace Composite Structures Company at its Southern Composites Center in Iuka, Miss., a 325,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art composite structures production facility that opened in 1998.

Steve Icardi, ATK Delta IV composites program manager, Southern Composites Center, said the contract expands ATK's strong partnership with Boeing on the important Delta IV Program.

"We are pleased to add this new contract to the work we are already doing on the Delta IV, which now encompasses 16 separate booster structures," said Icardi. "The high strength, light weight, and overall reliability of our composite components make them ideally suited to help Boeing carry on the long-running tradition of Delta mission success."

The Delta IV family of launch vehicles is the latest derivative of Delta rockets that have been lifting satellites into orbit since 1960. The Delta IV vehicles are designed to meet the growing needs of satellite manufactures and users around the globe for reliable and affordable access to space.

ATK was selected by Boeing in 1998 to produce composite structures for the Delta IV under a long-term contract that could be worth approximately $1 billion if all options are exercised. In addition to composite components, ATK also manufactures the solid rocket propulsion system for the Delta IV family at its facilities in Magna and Clearfield, Utah.

Patented manufacturing techniques together with strict and uncompromising attention to process control, schedule, and affordability have made ATK one of the world's leading manufacturers of composite structures. The company operates more fiber placement machines than any other supplier in the world, and is also an industry leader in both hand laid-up and filament-wound composite structures.

Headquartered in Magna, Utah, ATK Aerospace Composite Structures Company is part of ATK's Aerospace segment, which comprises the corporation's propulsion and composite structures operations. The Aerospace segment employs approximately 2,300 people in California, Florida, Mississippi, New York, Utah, and West Virginia. Sales in fiscal year 2000 were $530 million.

ATK is a $1.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading market positions in munitions, smart weapons and precision capabilities, propulsion, and composite structures. The company, which is headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., employs approximately 6,400 people and has three business segments: Conventional Munitions, Aerospace, and Defense Systems. ATK news and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/

SOURCE: ATK

Contact: Media, Rod Bitz, 612-931-5413, rod_bitz@atk.com, or Investors,
Steve Wold, 612-931-6747, steve_wold@atk.com, both of ATK