Shuttle Cuts Will Trim 550 More Jobs

Space shuttle program reductions will put another 550 workers at Vandenberg out of work, bringing the job losses to 2,800 in the last 14 months, officials said.

In a meeting last week with community leaders, program officials said the $50-million program funding request from the Air Force for the year starting Oct. 1 will support only about 300 workers. The low funding level was disclosed by the Air Force last week, but not translated into probable employee numbers until Thursday.

Officials said the added cutback is a result of budget pressures and uncertainty on just how much cargo the shuttle will be able to carry once NASA makes about 400 contemplated changes.