L Garde Inc

About 25 years ago, L'Garde Inc., a small Tustin company, began pioneering a line of thin-skinned, multi-task balloons. Tuesday, the research paid off. Members of Congress and NASA officials had a press conference to tout L'Garde's tennis-court-size inflatable antenna: one of the largest and most complex inflatable objects that NASA has ever launched into space. The space shuttle Endeavour carried the antenna packaged in a desk-size box, which it launched in a satellite this week.

About 25 years ago, L'Garde Inc., a small Tustin company, began pioneering a line of thin-skinned, multi-task balloons. Tuesday, the research paid off. Members of Congress and NASA officials had a press conference to tout L'Garde's tennis-court-size inflatable antenna: one of the largest and most complex inflatable objects that NASA has ever launched into space. The space shuttle Endeavour carried the antenna packaged in a desk-size box, which it launched in a satellite this week.

Since the Cold War began to thaw, L'Garde Inc. has suffered cuts in its "Star Wars" defense work and has struggled to find non-defense applications for its space balloons and electronics equipment. But the spirit of peace could bring new business to the defense contractor in a cooperative effort with the Soviet Union. Instead of space-based weaponry, the company says it would like to send "space art" into the heavens.

Since the Cold War began to thaw, L'Garde Inc. has suffered cuts in its "Star Wars" defense work and has struggled to find non-defense applications for its space balloons and electronics equipment. But the spirit of peace could bring new business to the defense contractor in a cooperative effort with the Soviet Union. Instead of space-based weaponry, the company says it would like to send "space art" into the heavens.

With the Cold War over and the economy sagging, aerospace worker Greg Johnson said he and his colleagues can understand why President Bush has proposed deep cuts in defense spending. But neither Johnson nor his peers at Northrop Corp., which will eliminate 1,500 jobs in its B-2 bomber program in response to the cutbacks, wants his job sacrificed to the new political realities.

Orange County's sizable defense industry could experience some job losses as a result of the Pentagon's proposal to halt new weapons production, but contractors involved primarily in weapons research and development should see little or no effect. Almost 82,000 people work in the county's technology industry, according to the state Employment Development Department. About half of those employees work for firms largely devoted to defense and aerospace projects.