Alliant Techsystems, known for making the solid-fuel rocket motors used on the space shuttle, has launched a new division that brings the company's expertise in aerospace manufacturing under one umbrella.

The new division - ATK Aerospace Structures - is based in Clearfield though its operations include facilities in Mississippi, Ohio, Massachusetts and Colorado.

The new division was formed because ATK believes that composite aircraft structures will be one of the leading growth engines for the company, said Mark Messick, the new general manager of the ATK Aerospace Structures. The division is expected to produce new jobs as business grows.

"We've already been seeing significant growth in demand and we expect that to only increase," Messick said.

Composite materials start as carbon fibers, Kevlar or Fiberglass. After being impregnated with resin they are shaped and cured. The resultant material is far lighter but many times stronger than steel.

Messick said companies such as Boeing and Airbus as well as the manufacturers of military aircraft increasingly are interested in using composite structures as a way to reduce weight on their next-generation airplanes.

Each new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, for example, will take off with more than $1 million of ATK components aboard. In the commercial sector, ATK continues to produce the composite fan containment cases for General Electric's new GEnx jet engine.

State science adviser Greg Jones said the new ATK division is a sign that Utah remains the leader in composite manufacturing nationwide.

"We have more composite workers per capita, and more companies than anywhere else in the country," he said, indicating the industry employs roughly 10,000 Utahns and has a wage base of approximately $600 million.

Ron Kusina, director of Weber Economic Development, said northern Utah continues to develop as a leader in the composite industry thanks to organizations such as ATK and the U.S. Air Force, which maintains is composite structures "center of excellence" at Hill Air Force Base.

"And we've recently saw Adam Aircraft open their manufacturing facility here where they will be building an all-composite airplane," Kusina said.

The state's aerospace industry, which includes thousands of composite workers including about 600 laboring at ATK Aerospace Structures, also continues to expand with that industry now employing roughly 5,400 Utahns.

"We saw some decline in employment in the aerospace industry three or four years ago but we've been working our way back up," said Mark Knold, chief labor market economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

He said that last year the number of Utahns directly employed in the aerospace industry increased by 7 percent, from 5,000 in 2005 to 5,400 at the end of 2006.

steve@sltrib.com