Boeing

The Boeing Company today announced Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), Bremen, Germany, has signed an agreement to provide technical assistance to its team's pursuit of Phase 2 of NASA's Consolidated Space Operations Contract (CSOC).

DASA's capabilities will significantly enhance the Boeing team's commercial space operations approach, facilitate the use of European commercial space assets and promote international uses of CSOC capability, said Rick Stephens, the Boeing Reusable Space Systems Vice President and General Manager responsible for CSOC.

"We are excited about the added international dimension DASA brings to our team and the opportunity to build upon the strength of the Boeing/ DASA relationship on the International Space Station and ISS-Inspector programs," he said. "Adding DASA provides NASA with greater flexibility in pursuing global space operations cooperative ventures. Boeing will continue to pursue additional partners that provide NASA the best possible solution to achieving effective and cost-efficient consolidated space operations."

At the recent technical assistance agreement signing ceremony in Houston, DASA Executive Vice President of Orbital Systems and Operations Dr. Stefan Graul said his company was pleased and excited to be working with the Boeing CSOC team.

"DASA has a unique technical capability as one of the leading European space systems companies that can provide requisite experience and expertise in CSOC-related tasks," he said. "Our participation in numerous international cooperative programs enables us to have access to a variety of operations infrastructure, international assets, customers and service-level providers."

"DASA is very pleased to have been selected by Boeing as the first international partner in the exciting CSOC venture, which will change space operations tremendously for both service providers and customers."

The Boeing CSOC team includes Hughes Space and Communications Co., El Segundo, Calif.; Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, N.J.; Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash; Science Applications International Corp., Torrance, Calif.; Litton PRC, Reston, Va.; KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Houston; Barrios Technology, Inc., Houston; Colsa Corp., Huntsville, Ala.; Johnson Engineering Corp., Webster, Texas; Science & Technology Corp., Hampton, Va.; SpaceTec, Inc., Hampton, Va.; TSI TelSys, Inc., Columbia, Md.; Universal Space Network, Horsham, Penn.; and VTEX International, Inc., Greenbelt, Md.

In mid 1998, NASA will award one company a 10-year (5-years with a 5-year priced option) multibillion dollar contract to implement a ground systems architecture and space-based infrastructure to provide mission and data services to more than 100 existing and planned NASA spacecraft, while simultaneously lowering the cost of space operations. The contract encompasses NASA's total space operations infrastructure, including all elements currently managed autonomously by multiple contractors and five major NASA centers (Johnson Space Center, Houston; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.; and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.)