NASA awarded the Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) contract to Morton Thiokol’s Wasatch Division in Utah in late 1973. While Thiokol’s proposal was competitive on cost and management, there was notable controversy:
NASA Administrator James Fletcher was from Utah.
Powerful Utah Senator Frank Moss chaired a key Senate space committee.
Thiokol was selected over Lockheed (which some sources say scored better technically) despite protests. Lockheed’s protest was unsuccessful.
This choice committed the program to inland manufacturing in Utah, which made rail transport of a monolithic (single-piece) booster impractical due to size, weight, and infrastructure constraints. A coastal or river-adjacent facility could have enabled barge transport of a much larger single unit, potentially eliminating or reducing the need for field joints.