A MATCH FOR ROCKETDYNE? FIVE COMPANIES MAY VIE FOR BOEING UNIT.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

CANOGA PARK - Five potential suitors have surfaced for the Boeing Co.'s Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power unit that's a major player in the space shuttle program, sources said Monday.

News that Chicago-based Boeing was shopping the Canoga Park-based unit surfaced in late May, and the buzz about a potential deal that could fetch about $600 million intensified last week. Rocketdyne is best known for designing and building the shuttle's main engines.

``Since we've been through this before, we're kind of sensitive to what is going on,'' said one source who has worked at the company for two decades.

Speculation at the company is now focused on:

--Edina, Minn.-based Alliant Techsystems Inc. The company makes ammunition, smart bombs and rocket propulsion systems. Alliant's ATK Missile Systems unit, which designs and develops precision-guided military weapons systems, is based in Woodland Hills, about a mile away from Rocketdyne.

There is also a shuttle connection. The parent company refurbishes the vehicle's solid rocket boosters, the two big, white tubes that peel off and fall into the Atlantic as the craft races to orbit.

--Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co. The huge conglomerate is connected to most businesses that have played a role in shaping the modern world and its business line includes jet engines.

--Century City-based Northrop Grumman Corp., the No. 2 defense contractor whose holdings include a space division and the former Woodland Hills-based Litton Industries.

--Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation's No. 1 defense contractor. The company's space systems unit designs and builds satellites.

--!Rancho Cordova-based GenCorp. Inc.'s Aerojet-General Corp. unit, which manufacturers rocket propulsion systems and precision weapons components.

Representatives at each of the companies declined comment.

One Boeing official, who asked not to be identified, downplayed the speculation. ``Boeing is looking for strategic options for all of our businesses, but there is nothing right now,'' the source said.

Boeing, one of the world's biggest aerospace companies, bought Rocketdyne from Rockwell International Corp. in 1996 for $3.2 billion.

Paul H. Nesbit, an aerospace analyst at JSA Research Inc. in Newport, R.I., said some of these combinations would make sense and others would not.

For example, GE has been moving away from the space business for several years. And Northrop Grumman does not have any business line like Rocketdyne. Aerojet and ATK seem like a good match, though, Nesbit said.

``Those two would be strategic buyers because (Rocketdyne) would be complementary to what they already had. The others would just be getting into new areas.''

Even though the space shuttle program has been on hiatus since the Columbia broke apart above the Southwest United States in 2003, the workload has increased, the Boeing employee said.

``NASA is in a return to flight mode so they are double- and triple-checking everything. They want us to upgrade things and make sure they were better than before, even though the engines were not part of the accident,'' he said.

About 3,200 people work at the Rocketdyne units, mostly in big facilities in Canoga Park and Chatsworth. Much of the work is being consolidated into the Chatsworth facility, a move that should be completed by the end of 2006. Some support work will remain in Canoga Park, said company spokesman John Mitchell.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com