Local chemical maker switching from rocket fuel to medications
A local chemical maker is jettisoning its rocket-fuel business to focus on pharmaceuticals.
American Pacific Corp. of Las Vegas said Monday that it has agreed to sell its in-space propulsion business, which makes liquid-fuel systems and components for satellites and missile defense. American Pacific is selling the segment for $46 million to Moog Inc., a New York-based maker of control components and systems for aircraft and space vehicles.
American Pacific's in-space propulsion business had sales of about $51 million in the year prior to March, the company said. The division has plants in New York, California, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
American Pacific plans to expand its pharmaceutical product lines, which include active ingredients used as catalysts in medications. Moog executives said they'll use the new business to expand the company's presence in Europe.
American Pacific began in Henderson in 1955. It's best known for making the oxidizer ammonium perchlorate, a rocket-fuel additive used in missiles and in the space shuttle. American Pacific eventually expanded to add propulsion valves, chemicals for fire protection and an electro-chemical division for water treatment.
American Pacific has a notable past here. Its Pacific Engineering & Production Co. of Nevada plant exploded in 1988, killing two. The company moved its ammonium perchlorate plant to Cedar City, Utah, after the incident.
In the 1990s, researchers found ammonium perchlorate in treated drinking water from Lake Mead. State environmental protection officials pinpointed locations where the chemical was entering Las Vegas Wash and installed systems to clean tainted water before it reached the lake. By 2007, perchlorate levels in local drinking water were below recommended standards.
Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.
