NASA has selected Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea to provide water production services for the International Space Station. Hamilton Sundstrand is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) .
The firm fixed-price contract has a potential value of $65 million and extends through September 2014. The contract enables Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea to build its water production system, known as the Sabatier Reactor System, to performance requirements and specifications outlined by NASA.
Using a chemical reaction, the Sabatier Reactor System will use hydrogen — which is a waste product of Hamilton Sundstrand’s Oxygen Generation Assembly — and carbon dioxide. The Sabatier Reactor System will recycle both waste products, which are currently being vented into space, to produce water and methane. The methane will be vented into space and the water will be fed into the station’s waste water system — which features Hamilton Sundstrand’s Water Processor Assembly — where it will undergo treatment before it is used for drinking, personal hygiene and scientific experiments.
The Sabatier Reactor System is planned for use during STS-130, which is scheduled for launch in late 2009. Once installed on the International Space Station, it could produce as much as 2,000 pounds of water per year. “Astronauts need water on the International Space Station and we’ve found a creative way to give it to them,” said Ed Francis, vice president and general manager, Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea. “As NASA moves forward with its Vision for Space Exploration to return to the moon and then go to Mars, this technology will become critically important.”
Named for Paul Sabatier, a French chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1912, this water production technology has been under development at Hamilton Sundstrand for more than 40 years.
With 2007 revenues of $5.6 billion, Hamilton Sundstrand employs approximately 18,300 people worldwide and is headquartered in Windsor Locks, Conn. It provides a number of systems for the International Space Station, including those that control electrical power and process water, waste and air. The company has been the prime contractor to NASA for the spacesuit since 1981. In addition to its space business, Hamilton Sundstrand is among the world’s largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products. The company also designs, manufactures and services aerospace systems and provides integrated system solutions for commercial, regional, corporate and military aircraft. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries worldwide.
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