Rockwell to Cut 500 Jobs in Southland

Rockwell International Corp., citing cutbacks and delays in major space programs, said Wednesday that it plans to lay off at least 500 people at its Seal Beach headquarters and in Downey, where its space systems division is based.

The layoffs will start in February and will include workers at all levels, said Rockwell, the largest supplier to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a prime space shuttle contractor.

Rockwell’s space systems group employs 540 people in Seal Beach and 4,060 in Downey, where Rockwell built the shuttle fleet. The company does not yet know how the layoffs will be divided among the sites, spokeswoman Janet Dean said.

Rockwell--which also makes rocket engines, defense electronics, auto components and factory automation gear--employs 21,500 people in Southern California and 77,000 worldwide.

The layoffs mainly reflect the scaling back of the proposed space station, along with canceled orders for certain extra structural parts for the shuttle fleet, Dean said.

“There’s just less business to be had,” she said.

Because of the space station revisions, NASA and some of its other contractors--including McDonnell Douglas’ aerospace group in Huntington Beach--said in October that together they would eliminate more than 4,000 jobs this year.

The space station changes and reduced government funding for other space projects has forced the entire spacecraft industry to trim its ranks and otherwise cut costs.

Rockwell’s Rocketdyne division in Canoga Park, which builds the shuttles’ main engines and other rocket engines, has already announced plans to eliminate up to 990 jobs over the next year. Rocketdyne is not affected by the layoffs announced Wednesday.

The last big layoff at Rockwell’s space unit occurred in early 1992, when it laid off about 1,000 people as a result of completing the last shuttle, the Endeavour.