Anyone with even a passing interest in America's space program knows how important the smallest components on rockets are to the function--and safety--of the missions. Making parts for NASA requires extraordinary expertise. Putnam County's Flexial Corp. has delivered that degree of quality control on components for the space program's rockets for the last several years and will carry over into the next phase once the Space Shuttle is retired.

The Ares rockets that will take flight in the coming years will continue to carry the bellows crafted in the 35,000-square-foot facility in Cookeville. These are the expansion joints in piping systems that maintain a seal at (literally) astronomic temperatures and pressures and do not degrade under high radiation. Led by President Rick Larsen, the 16-year-old, 60-plus employee company may not make a splash in the county's economic growth compared to larger employers like Oreck, but the handful of multimillion-dollar government contracts under way (and more on the horizon) suggest its contribution will be significant. Two units have already made their way to the space station, including a water purification system and urine accumulator. Future products, including a bellows for the roll control system and a liquid oxidizer, are in production--or completed and already aboard the new rocket series.

Plans for NASA's Ares I rocket include reaching the International Space Station; future series rockets are slated to return to the moon and, even more ambitious, to reach Mars. Production began a while ago on parts for the Ares generation, which will attempt its first test launch this year.

"The Space Shuttle components [contract] is still on hold," Larsen explains, noting that the problem is a funding issue.

Currently, Larsen says the company is in the engineering phase for components on the Orion capsule, which will carry the astronauts to the moon, and perhaps Mars. Flexial, however, is also making products for machines flying far nearer terra firma. Lockheed Martin contracted the Tennessee company to make bellows for what the defense department is touting as the next-generation strike fighter for the United States and its allies--the F-35.

Flexial's next product launch, however, may provide its most significant revenue stream. Like many NASA contract manufacturers, Flexial has found a commercial market for its high-precision wares--in this case, the highly lucrative commercial airline industry. Larsen admits that, like other companies, consumer growth at Flexial is down, but the burgeoning interest from the airline industry could prove a substantial silver lining.

"It just sort of exploded on us," Larsen says about Flexial's foray into airline component manufacture.

Companies in France, California and Michigan are negotiating deals for Flexial bellows. Larsen says the company will commence production on two contracts to build parts for the Airbus 350 within two years with another to follow two years after that. Airbus already has hundreds of orders waiting to be filled.

"The downside of commercial aircraft is that it takes several years for programs to start maturing and go into production," he points out. The upside is that the contracts last for the life of the aircraft.

Larsen may be humble about the financial impact his company may have on its community, but he is proud of Flexial's winning of the rarely awarded SHARP (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program) award from Tennessee's OSHA. Despite the fact that Flexial does not employ many executives or professionals, those it does employ are almost always from nearby Tennessee Tech University.
"Most of our engineers and managers come from Tennessee Tech," he says. "It's the majority of the reason we're in Cookeville."

From Cookeville to the cosmos, county residents can already brag that Putnam-made parts float among the stars. With a little help from Congress, they may get to brag about their role in putting an American on Mars.