Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) said Wednesday that it has joined with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to bid on a NASA contract to do additional work on the Ares 1.
The contract is not expected to be put out for bid until next year, but ATK said it is setting up an office in Alabama to prepare a proposal.
Ares 1 is a rocket that will be used to launch Orion, a spacecraft that will replace the shuttle. Orion is expected to ultimately take astronauts to the moon, and possibly Mars.
Edina-based ATK is already building first stage hardware for Ares. Other team members are also already doing work on the project.
Alliant (NYSE: ATK) makes weapons and aerospace systems.