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Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington                    April 4, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1979)

June Malone
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256/544-0034)

RELEASE: C03-l

NASA AWARDS $135 MILLION TO CONTINUE SPACE LAUNCH INITIATIVE 
WORK

     NASA today announced approximately $135 million dollars 
will be awarded to three competing contractor teams to 
continue support of NASA's Orbital Space Plane program under 
the Space Launch Initiative to provide crew rescue and 
transfer capabilities to the International Space Station.

The awards are a part of a contract modification of a Cycle 1 
Space Launch Initiative solicitation originally awarded in 
May 2001. This modification extends existing contracts 
through July 2004.

The Orbital Space Plane program will provide the capability 
for crew rescue by 2010 and the capability for crews to 
transfer to and from the International Space Station by 2012.

The three system design contractor teams -- The Boeing 
Company of Seal Beach, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Corp. of 
Denver; and a team including Orbital Sciences Corp. of 
Dulles, Va., and Northrop Grumman of El Segundo, Calif. -- 
will each receive approximately $45 million to design 
potential candidates for the system, including the Orbital 
Space Plane vehicle or vehicles, ground operations and all 
supporting technologies needed to conduct a mission to and 
from the Space Station.

The contract modification includes work to develop system 
specifications, including systems analysis, trade studies and 
concept feasibility in preparation for NASA's Orbital Space 
Plane Program's Systems Requirements Review. The review, 
scheduled for October 2003, will evaluate the concept design 
based on the Level 1 requirements -- guidelines that lay out 
the foundation and top-level needs of the system. The review 
will also set Level 2 requirements that will further narrow 
the scope of the system design, including requirements for 
crew safety, cost, and interfacing with launch vehicles and 
the Space Station.

Once the Systems Requirements Review is complete, the 
contractors will begin work on the next phase, which includes 
trade studies, development of a conceptual design that meets 
Level 2 requirements and supporting analysis leading to 
NASA's Systems Design Review, scheduled for April 2004. The 
Systems Design Review is a NASA-led review to validate the 
Level 2 requirements and determine Level 3 requirements to 
more precisely define the needs and specifications of the 
system. A full-scale development decision by NASA is expected 
in the fall of 2004.

The Orbital Space Plane program supports U.S. International 
Space Station requirements for crew rescue, crew transport, 
and contingency cargo such as supplies, food and other needed 
equipment. The system will initially launch on an expendable 
launch vehicle to provide rescue capability for no fewer than 
four Space Station crew members as soon as practical -- but 
no later than 2010. It will also provide transportation 
capability for no fewer than four crew members to and from 
the Space Station as soon as practical -- but no later than 
2012.

For more information on the Orbital Space Plane, visit:
http://www.slinews.com

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