Space Commerce

NASA Awards Consolidated Operations, Management, Engineering Contract

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
February 23, 2023
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NASA Awards Consolidated Operations, Management, Engineering Contract
NASA

NASA has selected Jacobs Technology Inc., of Tullahoma, Tennessee, to manage launch infrastructure, and to operate and maintain ground systems required for flight spacecraft processing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Consolidated Operations, Management, Engineering and Test (COMET) contract will provide vehicle assembly and integration, launch, and recovery operations for Artemis missions through 2033.

This is a cost-plus-incentive-fee/award fee contract, with an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) ordering mechanism for obtaining additional services via task orders. The contract period of performance consists of a three-year, five-month base period beginning May 1, followed by two two-year option periods, and one two-year and seven-month option period. The total potential value of the contract is approximately $3.2 billion, which includes the base plus option periods, as well as the maximum IDIQ ordering value of $500 million.

Work performed under the COMET contract will include engineering; ground system development; flight vehicle/spacecraft processing; and launch, landing, and recovery operations in support of the following exploration systems development programs: exploration ground systems, Space Launch System, and Orion spacecraft. The COMET contract also will support the International Space Station Program, Launch Services Program, and other NASA programs, commercial ventures, and partnerships at Kennedy.

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.