NASA has selected four companies to provide payload processing facilities under an on-ramp provision of its Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract.
The agency named All Points Logistics LLC, Blue Origin LLC, Firefly Aerospace and L3Harris Technologies Inc. as the new awardees Aug. 17. The on-ramp provision lets qualified providers offer commercial payload processing services for NASA missions launching from locations where such capabilities weren’t available when the contract was first awarded.
The selection makes the four companies eligible to bid on individual task orders. It does not guarantee any of them work or revenue. NASA will issue those orders separately as specific missions require processing services.
The Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract is a multiple-award, commercial, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity vehicle. It carries an aggregate ceiling price of $100 million, with an ordering period running through Feb. 1, 2033.
Through the contract, NASA procures the facilities and services needed to process spacecraft and rocket hardware before delivery to the launch pad. That work can include fueling, integration and encapsulation of a payload ahead of liftoff.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage the contract. The program coordinates with private industry, mission teams and international partners to launch science payloads ranging from small satellites built by colleges and universities to the agency’s highest-priority missions.
The news release named no NASA officials commenting on the selection, and it contained no direct quotations from the agency or the four companies.
The ordering period continues through Feb. 1, 2033. Task orders under the on-ramp will be issued as individual missions require processing services.