NASA said March 31 it completed negotiations with United Space Alliance (USA) for six one-month options that will be used to keep employees of the Houston-based space shuttle operator on the job through the fly-out of the two remaining space shuttle missions. The options could add as much as $436 million to USA’s Space Program Operations Contract (SPOC), an originally $6.4 billion contract that had been set to expire March 31.

NASA plans to exercise four one-month options to support the current shuttle manifest, which ends with the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis’ congressionally mandated STS-135 mission in late June.

The series of one-month options keep USA employees supporting flight activities while NASA and the company negotiate a two-year SPOC extension covering shuttle transition and retirement activities.

 

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