Contracts Worth $3.5 Billion Combined
NASA has awarded two contracts -- one to Orbital Sciences Corp.
of Dulles, VA and one to Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of
Hawthorne, CA -- for commercial cargo resupply services to the
International Space Station. At the time of award, NASA has ordered
eight flights valued at about $1.9 billion from Orbital and 12
flights valued at about $1.6 billion from SpaceX.
The fixed-price indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity
contracts will begin January 1, 2009, and are effective through
December 31, 2016. The contracts each call for the delivery of a
minimum of 20 metric tons of upmass cargo to the space station. The
contracts also call for delivery of non-standard services in
support of the cargo resupply, including analysis and special tasks
as the government determines are necessary.
"We are very appreciative of the trust NASA has placed with us
to provide commercial cargo transportation services to and from the
International Space Station, beginning with our demonstration
flight scheduled in late 2010," said Mr. David W. Thompson,
Orbital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The CRS
program will serve as a showcase for the types of commercial
services U.S. space companies can offer NASA, allowing the space
agency to devote a greater proportion of its resources for the
challenges of human spaceflight, deep space exploration and
scientific investigations of our planet and the universe in which
we live."
"The SpaceX team is honored to have been selected by NASA as the
winner of the Cargo Resupply Services contract," said Elon Musk,
CEO and CTO, SpaceX. "This is a tremendous responsibility, given
the swiftly approaching retirement of the Space Shuttle and the
significant future needs of the Space Station. This also
demonstrates the success of the NASA COTS program, which has opened
a new era for NASA in US Commercial spaceflight."
Orbital's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS)
solution is based on the company's new Cygnus maneuvering space
vehicle, and will be the anchor customer for the new Taurus II
medium-lift launch vehicle now under development. Cygnus is made up
of a service module -- containing the vehicle's propulsion, power
systems and avionics -- and one of three types of specialized cargo
modules. Orbital's design accommodates pressurized, unpressurized
and return cargo modules, offering NASA flexibility in its cargo
planning.
SpaceX will also deliver pressurized and unpressurized cargo to
the ISS, and return cargo back to Earth. Cargo may include both
NASA and NASA-sponsored payloads requiring a pressurized or
unpressurized environment. SpaceX will provide the necessary
services, test hardware and software, and mission-specific elements
to integrate cargo with the Dragon delivery capsule.
NASA has set production milestones and reviews on the contracts
to monitor progress toward providing services. The maximum
potential value of each contract is about $3.1 billion. Based on
known requirements, the value of both contracts combined is
projected at $3.5 billion.
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