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Orbital wins NASA launch services contract NASA NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 15, 2005 NASA has awarded a Small Class Acquisition contract to the Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va. The contract extends an existing NASA Launch Services (NLS) contract awarded in 1999. It enables the agency to order launch services for up to 30 new missions with a minimum capability to deliver a 250 kilogram payload (approximately 550 pounds) to a 200-kilometer (approximately 124 miles) circular orbit with an inclination of 28.5 degrees. The new contract is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with an ordering period through June 2010. The minimal total contract amount of this contract is $100,000. If NASA orders all 30 missions, the total estimated value of all launch services awarded under the NLS IDIQ contracts could reach $5 billion. The principal work locations for Orbital Sciences Corporation are Dulles, Va.; Chandler, Ariz.; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; and Mojave, Calif. The NLS contracts are multiple awards to multiple launch services providers. Twice a year there is an "open season" to provide the opportunity for existing and emerging domestic launch service providers who meet the minimum contract requirements to submit proposals for new launch systems to be considered for an IDIQ contract award. The Launch Services Program Office at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is responsible for the program management of NLS. The NLS contract provides launch services to support the goals and objectives of NASA's Science, Space Operations, and Exploration Systems Mission Directorates. |
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Astronomers announce the detection by NASA's Swift satellite of the most distant explosion yet, a gamma-ray burst from the edge of the visible universe, during this media teleconference held Monday, September 12. (54min 01sec file)
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has reached the summit of Husband Hill, returning a spectacular panorama from the hilltop in the vast Gusev Crater. Scientists held a news conference Sept. 1 to reveal the panorama and give an update on the twin rover mission.
To gain a new perspective on space shuttle Discovery's ascent and gather additional imagery for the return to flight mission, NASA dispatched a pair of high-flying WB-57 aircraft equipped with sharp video cameras in their noses.
When space shuttle Discovery launched its two solid-fuel booster rockets were equipped with video cameras, providing dazzling footage of separation from the external fuel tank, their free fall and splashdown in the sea.