NASA Awards $292Mln Space Station Support Engineering Contract

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2019) US contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has won a $292 million contract to provide engineering services for upcoming flights of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA announced in a press release.

"The contract will provide safety engineering, reliability engineering, quality engineering, quality assurance, and software assurance in support of NASA programs," the release said on Thursday. "These programs and projects include the International Space Station, Orion and Commercial Crew Programs, and the Extravehicular Activity Project Office."

The contract with a maximum value of $292 million begins June 1 with a two-year base period, followed by two two-year options, the release said.

Two US companies, SpaceX and Boeing are preparing rockets and spacecraft to carry humans from US soil to the space station for the first time since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011. In the meantime, Russia's Soyuz spacecraft has shuttled astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory.

Space X recently sent its Crew Dragon spacecraft to the ISS on an unscrewed test, with plans to launch humans to the ISS this summer. Boeing is expected to send humans to the space station on its Starliner spacecraft later in the year.