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Contact:
Anne Toulouse |
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Contact:
Anne Toulouse |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
97-121
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., May 23, 1997 -- McDonnell Douglas (NYSE: MD) Space and Defense Systems, headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif., announced today finalists in the site selection process for production of a major component for the Delta IV family of launch vehicles.
The proposed facility will produce the common core booster for the Delta IV rockets, McDonnell Douglas' entry into the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The cores, each roughly the size of the fuselage of an MD-11 airplane, will require a 1.25 million square-foot facility.
It is expected that several thousand people will be employed at the new facility.
The announcement today identifies the seven locations in four states under consideration for the facility. They are: Huntington Beach, Calif., the current site of operations for McDonnell Douglas Space and Defense Systems; Huntsville and Decatur, Ala.; Yellow Creek and Bay St. Louis, Miss.; and Cocoa Beach and Titusville, Fla. Final selection is expected to occur within several months.
Last year the Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas and one other contractor to proceed with a 17-month contract to validate low-cost concepts for EELV. In mid-1998 the Air Force will award a new contract to one of the two teams to design and manufacture the EELV family with the first test flight in 2001.