Boeing, Other Ares I Upper Stage Contractors Sign Associates Agreement

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has signed an associate contractor's agreement (ACA) with five other aerospace companies to work together on the Ares I upper stage. The agreement will save NASA time and resources by ensuring its contractors work together seamlessly.

The ACA was formed with those companies that have key contracts with Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala., on the Ares I upper stage. Participating companies include Aerojet, Boeing, Hamilton Sundstrand, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Moog Inc., and Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc.

"The Ares I upper stage associates are being proactive and using the resources of our respective companies to resolve technical issues before they become problems for NASA," said Jim Chilton, Boeing vice president and program manager of Exploration Launch Systems.

Roger Campbell, Ares I upper stage program integration manager for Boeing, added, "NASA has encouraged us to use this approach to work together, transition complementary activities and resolve issues ourselves wherever possible." Boeing uses a similar approach on the International Space Station program.

Each company performs a wide variety of work for NASA. Aerojet has an advanced development contract for the first stage roll control system, which helps control the rocket during first stage flight. Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), has an advanced development contract on the turbine pump assembly for the thrust vector control (TVC) system, which steers the upper stage engine. Under an engineering services contract, Jacobs is providing design support for MSFC. Moog Inc. has several advanced technology development contracts with NASA, including a prevalve for the main propulsion system and actuators and controllers for the TVC system. Teledyne Brown Engineering, under its support contract, is helping NASA with manufacturing process development of the Ares I-X test vehicle, including its roll control system, and other engineering support and test-related tasks.

The ACA can be expanded to include other companies and will continue as long as it remains beneficial to NASA and the associates.

Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will carry the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low-Earth orbit. This rocket will succeed the space shuttle as NASA's primary vehicle for human exploration in the next decade. Boeing will produce the upper stage and avionics for the new rocket.