If the United States decides not to go back to the moon and on to Mars a decade from now, no one will be able to blame Alliant Techsystems, executives with the company said shortly after Wednesday's unmanned test launch of the Ares I rocket motor they and 5,000 Utah employees helped design and build.

"This flight test is the culmination of four years of progress and is the critical first step to launching America beyond low-Earth orbit," said Mike Kahn, ATK Space Systems' executive vice president based in Plymouth, Box Elder County.

The 117-foot-long motor that makes up about half of the Ares I-X rocket that was flight-tested Wednesday morning in Florida couldn't have performed better, Kahn and other ATK executives said.

"Ares I architecture provides unmatched crew safety and performance for payload capacity, all while utilizing existing infrastructure," said Kahn, noting that more than 700 sensors collected data during the rocket's roughly six-minute flight.

NASA said the $445 million flight was a tremendous success, based on early indications.

"Oh, man. Well, how impressive is that," said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA's space frontier program, known as Constellation. "You've accomplished a great step forward for exploration," he told launch controllers.

It was the first time in nearly 30 years that a new rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center.

The flight test of the Ares I-X brings America one step closer to the goals of sending humans beyond low-Earth orbit for sustained exploration of multiple destinations throughout the solar system, he said. The launch is a critical milestone in the development of NASA's Constellation Program, which will also support missions to the International Space Station.

About 3.3 million pounds of thrust propelled the craft up to four times the speed of sound. Some ATK employees who watched the launch said the vehicle performed like a Ferrari as it appeared to almost jump off the launch pad, compared with the lumbering ascent of the space shuttle.

At 130,000 feet, the first stage parachutes, each weighing a ton, deployed, enabling the spent booster to slow its descent prior to splashing down into the ocean, where it will be recovered for reuse.

The rocket's appearance, which is like a giant, metal replica of the cattail plant that populates the wetlands areas near the Plymouth design and test facility, is just one reason the most powerful motor ever made is also the safest, said ATK Vice President Charlie Precourt.