Utah rocket contractor ATK lays off more workers

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The company that makes rocket boosters for the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle said it laid off hundreds of employees Thursday because of uncertainty over the future of the U.S. space program.

ATK Aerospace Systems dismissed 414 engineers, factory workers and other employees at three northern Utah locations, company spokesman George Torres told The Associated Press.

Some of the layoffs are due to the phase-out of the space shuttle program, he said. ATK Aerospace, a division of Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems Inc., makes shuttle rocket boosters in Utah.

"The space shuttle program is adding only one more mission, and we've already produced the …