Aerospace company Boeing has awarded contracts worth a total of $200m to six small businesses, which will provide products and services to the International Space Station (ISS).
Nasa has selected Boeing as prime contractor for the ISS.
Selected under the Boeing Engineering and Technical Support Service programme, the companies will provide expertise in several areas such as engineering, information technology, software development and mission assurance support.
The selected companies include S&K Global Solutions; Barrios Technology; ALATEC; Summit Technologies & Solutions; RVMTI JV; and All Points Logistics.
Contracts include the period of performance from October to September 2020.
Boeing ISS programme manager Mark Mulqueen said: "Supplier partners are critical to our growth and success.
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By GlobalData"It’s important to Boeing and our Nasa customer that we commit significant resources to growing our small business network through targeted outreach, mentoring programs and regular collaboration."
The company noted that the Boeing Space Exploration programmes cover the ISS and the commercial crew and space launch system.
During the first half of the US Government’s 2016 fiscal year, the Boeing Space Exploration programme has spent approximately $754m to buy products and services from a network of 690 suppliers.
Of the $754m, contracts worth roughly $211m were awarded to small and diverse businesses.
Last December, Boeing won a second contract from Nasa to transport crew to the ISS using its CST-100 ‘Starliner’ spacecraft, with flights beginning next year.
Last May, the space agency awarded Boeing its first commercial human spaceflight mission.
