Shuttle Launch Schedule Continues To Slip Into 2011

As delays continue to push back the final launch of Discovery to likely later this month, NASA has signed a $42.1 million contract modification to space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor manufacturer ATK Launch Systems Inc. of Brigham City, UT, to provide continued prelaunch through postlaunch support from Oct. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011.

The modification is based on an extension to the current Space Shuttle Program launch schedule, which shifted the last two scheduled missions into fiscal year 2011. The extension also covers the completion of contract activities associated with the processing of flight hardware after the last scheduled shuttle flight, STS-134, and postflight activities for cleaning and preserving the reusable solid rocket motors.

This modification brings the total potential value of the cost-plus-award fee/incentive fee contract to $4.13 billion. The principal location of the work to be performed is ATK Launch Systems Inc. in Brigham City.

The space shuttle's solid-propellant motors are the first designed for reuse and the only solid rocket motors approved for human flight. They operate in parallel with the shuttle's main engines during the first two minutes of flight and provide the additional thrust needed for the orbiter to escape Earth's gravitational pull.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle