Boeing awarded a $ 916 million contract extension to support the International Space Station
Boeing, NASA’s primary industry partner for the International Space Station (ISS) since 1993, will continue to support the famous orbital laboratory until September 2024 under a contract extension of $ 916 million.
The announcement, made in a press release Wednesday, comes as the world marks two decades of constant human habitation on the ISS, an incredible record that no other manned spacecraft has been close to reaching.
Under the contract extension, Boeing will provide engineering, resource and personnel support services for activities on board the ISS and will manage many of the station’s systems.
The work will reportedly take place at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as elsewhere in the world. Boeing employees in northern Alabama will work closely with NASA staff at Marshall and conduct advanced engineering and sustainable studies, providing technological advancements, including engineering and manufacturing support for the ISS.
NASA selected Boeing as the ISS’s prime contractor in 1993. Throughout the station’s development, assembly, housing, and day-to-day operations aboard the station, Boeing has partnered closely with the agency to assist NASA and its international partners to safely house astronauts and cosmonauts for months. Astronauts conduct microgravity experiments that help treat disease, increase food production, and manufacture technology impossible to produce on Earth’s surface.
“As the International Space Station celebrates its twentieth year of human habitation, Boeing continues to improve the usability and livability of the orbiting laboratory we built for NASA decades ago,” said John Mulholland, Boeing vice president and program manager for the ISS, in a statement. statement.
“We thank NASA for their trust in our team and the opportunity to support the agency’s vital work in space flight and deep space exploration for the benefit of all humanity,” he added.
Congress, NASA and their international partners agreed to extend ISS operations until at least 2024. According to Boeing, a recent structural analysis shows that the spacecraft remains safe and capable of missions.
In ISS-related news, NASA broadcast a spacewalk outside of the ISS on Thursday in which two astronauts will update the station’s power system. Another spacewalk for the same purpose will also air live on Tuesday, July 21. Astronauts are installing special batteries made in Huntsville by Boeing during these spacewalks.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
