NASA Has Andrews, Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop, Odyssey Study Lunar Lander
NASA selected five contractors to study the design concept for the next-generation lunar lander that NASA created.
Contractors receiving the review study contracts are Andrews Space of Seattle, The Boeing Co. [BA] of Houston, Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] unit Space Systems Co. of Denver, Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] of El Segundo, Calif., and Odyssey Space Research of Houston
Those firms will perform a 210-day study to evaluate the NASA in-house design concept for a lunar lander that will deliver four astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2020.
Those contract awards total approximately $1.5 million, with a maximum individual award of $350,000. The study recommendations will be used to increase the technical maturity of the existing design in preparation for development of vehicle requirements.
The Constellation Program is building the next generation fleet of spacecraft — including the Ares I and Ares V rockets, the Orion crew capsule and the Altair lunar lander — to send humans beyond low Earth orbit and back to the moon. NASA plans to establish a human outpost on the moon through a successive series of lunar missions.
“These studies will provide valuable input for developing a sound set of requirements for the Altair lunar lander,” said Jeff Hanley, the Constellation Program manager at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Industry collaboration will provide insight for our planning and early design efforts for the spacecraft.”
The companies will evaluate the current in-house design, propose safety improvements and recommend industry-government partnering arrangements.
The Constellation Program is based at Johnson and manages the Altair Project for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
Northrop Gives Lockheed $24 Million Contract For ICBM Reentry Upgrade
Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] gave Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] a $24 million contract change for an upgrade involving intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Lockheed will provide hardware for the next phase of full-rate production for the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Safety Enhanced Reentry Vehicle (SERV) program.
This contract is for the third of four phases of full-rate production. In this phase, Lockheed will deliver an additional 120 full-rate production SERV hardware kits by December 2010.
With options, the total value of the contract over seven years is about $137 million.
To date, Lockheed has delivered more than 100 SERV hardware kits in earlier phases of full-rate production, which began in 2006, and in the low-rate initial production phase, which began in 2004 and concluded in December 2007.
The entire force of Minuteman III missiles is slated to be upgraded with the SERV modifications by 2011.
As a result of SERV, the Minuteman III missile now is capable of carrying single Mark 21 reentry vehicles from the decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBM missile force. This ensures continued reliability and effectiveness of the Minuteman III weapon system, in part because the Mark 21 reentry vehicle is a newer design with enhanced safety features.
Hardware components provided by Lockheed Martin Space Systems include the Electronic Command Signal Generator and associated cabling that interface between the missile’s guidance and control system and the reentry vehicles, as well as the flight hardware for attaching reentry vehicles to the missile.
The Lockheed Martin Valley Forge, Pa., facility produces the Electronic Command Signal Generator, cables, attachment hardware, and a complete suite of ground support equipment, and provides associated engineering and logistics support.
Space Adventures Buys Rest Of Zero Gravity Corp.
Space Adventures Ltd. bought the remaining portions of Zero Gravity Corp. that it didn’t already hold to achieve 100 percent ownership, Space Adventures announced.
“Space Adventures has been one of the largest investors in ZERO-G for years. Our decision to acquire the remaining equity in ZERO-G is a strategic fit within Space Adventures’ overall business plan, strengthening our position as the only operational commercial spaceflight services company,” said Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures. “Because the ZERO-G experience is available to the public at such a reasonable price point, we’ll enable tens of thousands of people to take part in one the most exhilarating aspects of spaceflight, weightlessness.”
“Bringing the companies together allows us to provide a range of exclusive commercial spaceflight services from parabolic flights to orbital missions,” said Peter H. Diamandis, CEO of Zero-G. “Zero-G will continue as its own brand, but now has the opportunity to be the entry point for a series of vertically integrated space experiences worldwide.”
Diamandis, also a co-founder of Space Adventures, will continue as CEO of Zero-G, but also joins as managing director of parent company Space Adventures.
Byron Lichtenberg, co-Founder of Zero-G and a former NASA astronaut, will continue as CTO of Zero-G.
Since 2004, ZERO-G has flown over 175 missions, providing the weightless experience to more than 5,000 customers, including Stephen Hawking. In January, the company won a research and training contract from NASA worth up to $25 million.