David Steitz

Headquarters, Washington, DC Dec. 17, 1999

(Phone: 202/358-1730)

Allen Kenitzer
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-2806)

RELEASE: C99-d

NASA SELECTS RAPID SPACECRAFT CONTRACTORS

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, has

awarded multiple contracts for satellite core-systems to support
NASA's space science, earth science and technology needs.

The Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts will

be open for use by all NASA Centers and other Government agencies
furthering NASA's Contract Consolidation Initiative. This Rapid
Spacecraft Acquisition, called "Rapid II," is a follow-on to one
awarded in 1997.

"The Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition program has been an

incredible success," said Al V. Diaz, Director of Goddard, where
the concept originated. "In the two years since we put the rapid
spacecraft procurement process in place, we have procured five
spacecraft with a value of $175 million. Rapid I took the
spacecraft procurement process, which used to take months, and
cut it down to days. In a number of instances, we have ordered,
built and launched a spacecraft in less than one year. The
changes and improvements we have made in Rapid II will provide
even greater service to our customers."

A new concept with this second acquisition is an "On-ramp,"

or a contractual mechanism that will allow NASA to accept
proposals with the intention of adding additional contracts
and/or modifying existing contracts to add additional core busses
and options. Proposals will be accepted semi-annually over the
life of the five-year contract.

Some of the other changes and improvements in Rapid II

include: annual core-bus refreshment of technical details and
options; the ability to purchase vendor-provided Delivery In-
Orbit (vendor-provided launch service for its spacecraft); and
the ability to purchase individual spacecraft components on an
emergency basis.

As NASA identifies missions, the contract holders listed

below will be given an opportunity to compete for providing the
spacecraft. All mission-specific spacecraft will be awarded
under firm fixed-price delivery orders with delivery expected
between 18 and 36 months after placement of the delivery order.
The placement of orders is
expected to take between 30 and 90 days, reducing the lead-time
from identification of a need to the placement of a contract for
delivery and launch of the satellite.

Contracts will be awarded to the following six contractors

for a total of 14 core spacecraft busses:

Ball Aerospace Systems Division, Boulder, CO

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, Sunnyvale, CA
Orbital Sciences Corporation, Germantown, MD
Spectrum Astro, Gilbert, AZ
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., UK
TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, CA

Each contract will have a minimum value of $50,000 and a

maximum value of $1.5 billion for cumulative delivery orders,
with a five-year ordering period.

-end-