Two different NASA authorization bills winding through Congress are both encouraging for rocket-builder ATK, a top contractor for the endangered Ares rocket family, company officials said Thursday.

The Ares 1 and Ares 5 rockets would be shelved under the White House's fiscal year 2011 budget proposal. Credit: NASA

For ATK, the sticking point is the Ares rocket. The Minneapolis-based company holds a contract for the solid-fueled first stage of the Ares 1 launch vehicle, the government-run manned booster for the Constellation program.

The Ares 5 heavy-lifter is being designed to launch cargo for crewed exploration missions.

"Congressional support for accelerating space exploration is encouraging," said Mark DeYoung, president and CEO of Alliant Techsystems Inc. "The House and Senate authorization bills bode well for ATK's long-term role in this effort."

NASA's budget request from February would shelve the Ares rocket family and fund the development of a powerful new liquid-fueled engine to propel a future heavy-lift rocket.

Committees in both legislative bodies passed their own guidelines for NASA in July, but the bills offer competing views for the agency's priorities over the next three years.

The House bill would direct NASA to develop a government-owned space transportation system for low Earth orbit and remove most of the funding from the White House's proposal to turn over crewed flights to the commercial sector.

A Senate authorization act would preserve much of the Obama administration's vision for NASA, including more funding for commercial spaceflight.

The Senate passed its version of the bill Thursday night, ordering NASA to develop a heavy-lift rocket utilizing work already accomplished on the Ares 1 booster, part of roughly $9 billion the space agency has invested in the Constellation program to date.

The House bill also calls for NASA to recycle work on the Ares rocket in its next-generation crew transportation system.

Speaking to investors Thursday before the Senate vote, ATK executives said either scenario would be good for the company.

"Both are focused on accelerating heavy-lift," DeYoung said. "Both bode well, I think, for ATK and the solid propulsion industrial base in terms of being able to support that future space exploration and meet that mission."

With explicit language directing NASA to build upon the Ares rocket family, ATK's solid-fueled motors could be a shoo-in for any future heavy-lift launch vehicle.

If Congress does not pass a new NASA budget, the agency could be forced to operate under a continuing resolution starting in October. Such a resolution would keep NASA's budget at current levels, unless Congress specifically directs changes for certain programs.

DeYoung said a continuing resolution would give ATK more money to continue work on the Ares 1 rocket's first stage, a five-segment motor derived from the company's space shuttle solid rocket booster design.

The ongoing Ares 1 design work, coupled with encouraging legislation in Congress, prompted ATK to narrow its full-year sales forecast for NASA business to the upper end of its previous range, despite a stop-work order on the Orion capsule's launch abort system, which includes ATK propulsion.

The company received a payment from NASA in June paying for continued Ares 1 development through September, including another five-segment motor test in late August.

John Shroyer, ATK's senior vice president and chief financial officer, said the company expects about $500 million in NASA sales revenue this fiscal year, which extends into 2011.