PHOENIX – NASA awarded the Aerospace Corp. an engineering, evaluation and testing support contract with a maximum potential value of $621 million over nine years.
Under the sole source contract for the NASA-wide Specialized Engineering, Evaluation and Test Services (NSEETS) program, the Aerospace Corp. will lend support, which may include staff, for focused science and technology studies, advanced systems architecture, systems engineering and independent reviews. Work under the contract begins Oct. 1.
The NSEETS contract announced Aug. 19 carries on work the Aerospace Corp. began performing in 2011.
“We’re delighted to continue delivering critical engineering, evaluation, and test services to NASA that will advance and shape the future of our nation’s space exploration, science and technology over the next decade,” Edward Swallow, Aerospace Corp. Civil Systems Group senior vice president, said in a statement. “As the leading federally funded research and development center operator for space, our unique technical expertise and objective analysis align well with NASA’s needs as it opens an exciting era of vital missions.”
Specifically, the Aerospace Corp. will assist NASA with management, scientific and technical studies, including defining payloads to meet scientific goals and analyzing the feasibility of instruments, spacecraft and designs.
The Aerospace Corp. won five cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts in 2011 to conduct similar work for NASA. The 2011 contracts had a combined maximum value of nearly $658.3 million. Under those contracts, the Aerospace Corp. offered independent assessments of NASA programs, including evaluating technical risk, cost assessments, schedules and safety for NASA Headquarters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, Glenn Research Center, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (then known as Dryden), NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA Stennis Space Center and NASA Langley Research Center.
With about 4,000 employees based in California, New Mexico, Colorado and Washington, D.C., the nonprofit Aerospace Corp. operates a federally funded research and development center.