The Tekoi rocket testing facility was constructed in 1976 for machining, testing and calibration of solid rocket booster motors by Hercules Aerospace's Utah Aerospace Division; Hercules developed double base propellants. By 1990, Hercules used 35 acres of their 3500 acre lease held through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and employed 17 people on site. Hercules employed approximately 3000 people 75 miles away at their Baccus Works in Magna, Utah for solid fuel motor construction in 1990; by 1992, as the MGM-134 Midgetman contracts closed, the employment was reduced to about 1000. Hercules designed the Nike Ajax M5E1 steel-tubed solid fuel motor, used as the Nike Hercules XM-42 (first stage) package, which contained four of the M5E1 motors; approximately 25,000 Nike Hercules were produced. Hercules also designed the Orion rocket motors, the MK12 (used for the RIM-67A) and MK70 (RIM-67C), and the MK11 Talos.
