Business & Finance

Boeing to cut 510 jobs as Shuttle program winds down

NEW YORK : Boeing Co will lay off about 510 employees in its Space Exploration division as the United States' space sh
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There will no material impact on the company as a result of the job cuts, a spokesman for Boeing's Space Exploration division told Reuters. The last workday for workers is scheduled to be Aug. 5, pending completion of the final shuttle mission, the company said in a statement.

The United States is retiring its three-ship fleet due to high operating costs and to free up funds to develop new spacecraft that can travel beyond the space station's 220-mile-high (346-km-high) orbit.

Earlier this week, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at its Florida home base, ending the next-to-last mission in the space shuttle program.

Shuttle Atlantis is slated to launch on July 8 on NASA's final planned shuttle mission.

Shares of the Chicago-based Boeing closed at $74.84 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Copyright Reuters, 2011