The NASA Johnson Space Center awarded Raytheon [RTN] a contract extension worth upward of $102 million to continue to provide operations, maintenance, and engineering services for up to four years at facilities supporting human spaceflight.
Raytheon will continue to provide the services at NASA’s neutral Buoyancy lab (NBL) and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF).
The NBL is a deep water pool astronauts use for spacewalk training. The SVMF contains full-size mockups and simulators for the International Space Station (ISS), Orion capsule, and commercial space modules. The facilities test scenarios and new equipment for human spaceflight.
“The extension allows Raytheon to continue its excellent performance record for this critical space mission support program. We will continue to partner closely with NASA and provide the innovative solutions required for our country’s space programs,” Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon Information, Intelligence and Services (IIS) said in a statement.
Raytheon operates at the facilities 24/7 and runs real-time mission scenarios to help ISS astronauts deal with spaceflight challenges, the company said.
Raytheon conducts service life extension programs for the underwater mockups in addition to daily maintenance and operations.
“Raytheon’s dedicated partnership with NASA has led to the highest standard of overall systems reliability and a world-class safety rating at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. We are committed to efficient and effective support for these high-consequence human spaceflight missions,” Todd Probert, vice president of mission support and modernization at Raytheon IIS, added.
The company highlighted it lowers NASA costs and maintain critical space exploration skills by increasing commercial uses of the NBL in the oil and gas, commercial space, and defense industries.
The deep water pool is being used by commercial customers for testing and training on unmanned submersibles, underwater pipeline repairs, deep-water survival, and underwater helicopter escape.
Raytheon was awarded over $2.5 billion in space contracts so far in 2015, the company noted.