NASA said Jan. 17 that it is considering contracting with Boeing [BA] for crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) on the Russian Soyuz rocket, according to a notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO).
This transportation would be for one crewmember in the fall and one in spring 2018. NASA is considering purchasing these services from Boeing, without competition, because no other vehicles are currently capable of providing these services in the specified timeframes. NASA is also considering an option to acquire crew transportation services from Boeing for three crewmembers on Soyuz in 2019 to ensure the availability of backup transportation capability in the event the U.S. commercial contractor vehicles are delayed or to augment future ISS operations and research.
NASA spokeswoman Tabitha Thompson said Boeing received the Soyuz flight opportunities and seats as part of an agreement in a separate legal matter with Russian company Energia, which manufactures the Soyuz spacecraft and has the legal rights to sell the seats and associated services. NASA is not a party to that agreement, she said, but is eligible to buy the seats from Boeing. Thompson said prices will be finalized during contract negotiations. The effort will be firm fixed price (FFP) with the applicable FFP terms and conditions, Thompson said, and the final negotiated payment schedule will be consistent with ISS funding levels.
Boeing spokeswoman Kelly Kaplan said the company reached a settlement with Energia that resolves claims related to Sea Launch. Boeing, she said, obtained access to seats on the Soyuz capsule for trips to and from ISS as part of that settlement. Kaplan declined to say how much Boeing was offering to NASA for each seat. Thompson said NASA pad on average $82 million for each Soyuz crew seat to be used in 2018, including training and preparation and limited cargo delivery.