Nasa has selected US-based aerospace company Blue Origin to integrate and fly technology payloads near the boundary of space on the company’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft.
Starting this month, the Blue Origin contract is part of Nasa’s flight opportunities programme, and a continuation of contracts awarded during the last two years in order to provide commercial capabilities using proven flight systems.
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Blue Origin is the sixth company selected by Nasa for an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity agreement under suborbital reusable launch vehicle (sRLV) flight and payload integration services solicitation, which has a combined value of up to $45m.
Based in the government’s requirements, the Nasa contract will also help to have access with new vendors and the inclusion of new flight profiles on at least an annual basis.
It is reported that all task orders of the agreement required to be started within the contract’s three-year performance period.
Nasa space technology mission directorate (STMD) associate administrator Steve Jurczyk said: "Adding additional flight providers enables Nasa and the broader aerospace community to demonstrate and transition space technologies, developing new capabilities faster and, potentially, at lower cost."
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By GlobalDataThe space agency previously selected five US firms, which are still under the contract and they include Masten Space Systems, Mojave, California; Near Space Corporation, Tillamook, Oregon; UP Aerospace, Littleton, Colorado; Virgin Galactic, New York; and World View Enterprises, Tucson, Arizona.
Funded by STMD, the flight opportunities programme selects promising technologies from industry, academia and government, as well as tests them on commercial launch vehicles.
The programme is managed by Nasa’s Armstrong Flight Research Centre in Edwards, California, US.
Image: Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle is seen here launching from the company’s West Texas launch site. Photo: courtesy of Blue Origin.
