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.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/station, www.orbital.com, www.spacex.com