Rockwell Wins $43.3-Million SDI Contract : Weapons: Seal Beach center will manage the pact for a ground-based missile interceptor. Another $126 million may be tacked on to the project.

Rockwell International Corp. said Thursday that it has received a “Star Wars” contract worth $43.3 million from the U.S. Army to design and test technology for a missile-killer launched from the ground to intercept missiles in space.

The company’s Strategic Defense Center in Seal Beach will manage the contract, which includes options for an additional $126.3 million for flight testing and hardware design.

Under the two-year contract, Rockwell will design and test technology for the interceptor for the Army’s Strategic Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala. The project, which could be extended 30 months on the different options, is overseen by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, also known as “Star Wars.”

Besides Rockwell, Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Missile Systems Group in Canoga Park and Martin Marietta Corp. in Orlando, Fla., also received contracts to perform the initial design work.

The antimissile system would consist of a rocket carrying small lightweight projectiles that would detect attacking nuclear missiles in space and destroy them through collision, the company said.

In 1989, Rockwell received a contract to study the proposed system. It then bid for the initial design and testing. Besides the Strategic Defense Center, several other Rockwell divisions will perform work on the contract.

The project is expected to get under way this month with flight tests scheduled for 1991. Rockwell, which is based in El Segundo but plans to move its headquarters to Seal Beach in 1992, has won eight SDI contracts.

The fate of the “Star Wars” program is cloudy. In September, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives approved deep cuts in the Bush Administration’s SDI budget, slashing the spending plan from $4.7 billion to $2.3 billion. The Senate approved a $3.5-billion budget.