The UK's Surrey Satellite Technology (SST) is the only non-US company to have been awarded initial contracts to provide rapidly developed satellite core-systems to support NASA's science programme. In total, seven companies have secured contracts
The US firms involved are Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, Spectrum Astro, Swales Aerospace and TRW. NASA says that the procurement procedure is a "-revolutionary new way of doing business-that promises our scientific customers an opportunity for quicker and cheaper access to space".
As NASA identifies missions, the contract holders will compete to provide the spacecraft, having prepared internal programmes and technology to react quickly to requests, with the assistance of the initial $100,000 contracts.
Contracts for each of the mission-specific spacecraft will be awarded under firm fixed-price delivery orders, with delivery expected between 18 and 36 months after the deal is signed.
The contracts will be valued at between $100,000 and $755 million, depending on the type of mission. The first two orders are expected to be placed early in 1998.
SST has either launched, or is building, 17 small 50kg-class microsatellites and has an orderbook valued at $12 million. The company is also developing a larger 350kg spacecraft bus, the Minisatellite, which will be launched for the first time in 1998.
SST was earlier awarded a $5.1 million contract from the US Air Force to build the PICOSat, to carry military-technology payloads. It was the first such contract to be awarded by the USA to a UK concern.
Source: Flight International
