First big layoff set as space shuttle program winds down

Palm Beach Post News: First big layoff set as space shuttle program winds down

United Space Alliance - NASA's main space-shuttle contractor - said Tuesday that it will lay off more than 1,400 workers by Oct. 1 as the shuttle program's phase-out continues, including as many as 1,000 people at Kennedy Space Center.

Houston-based United Space Alliance said it will eliminate about 15 percent of its jobs in Florida, Texas and Alabama by then "to align the work-force level with [the remaining shuttle] work scope and current budget." The latest cutbacks could affect as many as 18 percent of the company's workers in Brevard County.

It was the first major downsizing announced for the shuttle program, which has only two launches left on its schedule: Nov. 1 of this year and Feb. 26, 2011. United Space Alliance cut 400 jobs last fall, including 258 at KSC.

Ultimately, as many as 9,000 workers in Brevard could lose their jobs once the shuttle fleet is fully retired, according to NASA and space-industry officials.

"Our work force has known for several years that the space-shuttle program has been scheduled to end," United Space Alliance President Virginia Barnes said in a written statement. "But layoffs are always difficult for everyone involved."

United Space Alliance, or USA, is providing severance pay, job-placement services and career-transition training to displaced workers. The Houston-based company is jointly owned by aerospace giants Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co.

Tuesday's announcement came the same day that dozens of employment-development agencies, local governments, private companies and others asked a federal panel in Orlando for a share of the $40 million promised by President Barack Obama to help ease the effect of shuttle-related job losses.

With the shuttle's erstwhile successor - the problematic Constellation program - set for termination by President Barack Obama, no replacement is expected to be available in time to stem the space industry's job losses.

Congressional supporters of the shuttle have been battling the Obama administration over its proposed space plan, which would temporarily rely on Russia or U.S. companies to send flights to the International Space Station. Supporters are also pressing to add a shuttle flight next year to the remaining schedule.