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The article discusses the successful test-firing of the most powerful rocket engine designed and built by Thiokol Chemical Corp. However, the forerunner of a class of 260 inch booster rocket for the U. S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), it does not appear to have future as NASA announced that it cancelled the 260 inch solid rocket program as an economy measure. Thiokol officials are hopeful of reawakening interest in the program after its succesful test.

The article mentions that the aerospace contractor Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) is developing the solid-fuel concept motors for the U.S. strategic forces and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) space shuttle fleet to replace the Russian-built RD-180 rocket engine.

The article presents updates on U.S. research as of May 13, 1961. Bids were made by International Telephone & Telegraph Corp. and Westinghouse Electric Corp. for a role in satellite communications. A research project was launched by the state of Washington to investigate the potential use of glaciers for the production of power in low-water years. A successful test firing of the world's largest segmented solid-fuel rocket engine was conducted by Aerojet-General Corp.

The article examines development of the solid-fuel rocket motor of the Ares ! manned space flight launch vehicle by aerospace industries company Alliant Techsystems (ATK). Although the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) has dropped funding for the program from its 2011 budget request, the Congress has not yet done so. An ATK executive discusses the difficulty of working for two major U.S. clients, NASA and the Defense Department, who have different needs.