Contract Authorizes Production Of Boosters Thru 2016
NASA on Tuesday selected Boeing's
facility in Huntsville, AL as the contractor to provide
manufacturing support for design and construction of the upper
stage of the Ares I rocket. Ares I will launch astronauts to the
International Space Station and eventually help return humans to
the moon.
Boeing will provide support to a NASA-led design team during the
design phase and will be responsible for production of the Ares I
upper stage.
Boeing will manufacture a ground test article, three flight test
units and six production flight units to support NASA's flight
manifest through 2016. Final assembly of the upper stage will take
place at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
The contract type is cost-plus-award-fee and the period of
performance is September 1, 2007, through December 31, 2016. The
estimated contract value for design team support and the
manufacture of the test units and six production flight units is
$514.7 million. The selection resulted from a full and open
competition.
"Boeing will apply its best practices in program management and
Lean manufacturing principles from across the company to ensure
that we produce the safest, lowest-cost and most reliable upper
stage for NASA," said Roger A. Krone, president of Network and
Space Systems, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. "The Boeing team
has an experienced and highly skilled workforce that is ready to
get started on this exciting new mission for our customer and our
nation."
Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will carry to low
Earth orbit the crew exploration vehicle Orion, which will succeed
the space shuttle as NASA's primary vehicle for human exploration
in the next decade. The Ares I upper stage, with an engine and an
avionics unit procured separately, will provide the navigation,
guidance, control and propulsion required for the second stage of
the rocket's ascent.
The Ares I first stage will consist of a five-segment solid
rocket booster and motor similar to those used on the space
shuttle. The second, or upper, stage will consist of a J-2X main
engine, a fuel tank for liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen
propellants, and associated avionics.
The Ares I upper stage development is managed by NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., for NASA's Constellation
Program.