NASA has renewed a contract worth USD 916 Million with Boeing for supporting the International Space Station. Boeing has been the prime contractor working with NASA for more than 50 years and has contributed to all major American space ventures. Boeing had helped build modules for the International Space Station beginning 1993.
The International Space Station has completed more than 20 years in orbit around the earth supporting astronauts and cosmonauts conduct various experiments and supporting the long stays. Recent structural analysis has shown that the spacecraft continues to be safe and mission-capable.
NASA and the US Congress has approved support to the programme till 2024 and Boeing has been awarded a contract to sustain the station through engineering support services, resources, and personnel for activities aboard the ISS. Boeing will also manage many of the station’s systems and deploy its resources across the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston; the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida; and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as other locations around the world.
Further, Boeing is building on it’s legacy in space flights with its CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft developed in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The company is also building the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System, a rocket powerful enough to lift astronauts and spacecraft to destinations beyond Earth orbit, such as lunar orbit and Mars.
The Transport Journal 