Provide developmental hardware and test articles, and manufacture and assemble ares i upper stages. The upper stage (US) element is an integral part of the ares i launch vehicle and provides the…

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center awarded a $10.731 billion definitive contract to The Boeing Company for development, design, test, and production of Ares I upper stages on September 1, 2007, under cost-plus award-fee pricing, with an ultimate completion date of December 31, 2028.

The upper stage (US) serves as the second stage of the Ares I launch vehicle, providing roll control during first-stage burn and separation, and delivering guidance, navigation, command and data handling, and avionics functions throughout ascent flight. The US element emphasizes safety, operability, and minimum life-cycle cost through a three-organization execution model: the NASA Design Team (NDT) leads requirements development, design documentation, testing specifications, and verification/validation; Boeing as the Upper Stage Production Contractor (USPC) manufactures and assembles developmental hardware, test articles, and flight/operational units; and an Instrument Unit Production Contractor (IUPC) delivers instrument unit components under parallel execution. NASA maintains technical and programmatic integration responsibility for DDT&E, subsystem development, and government-furnished property.

Place of performance is Huntsville, Alabama. The contract is cost-plus award-fee, reflecting the developmental nature and integration complexity of a new launch vehicle upper stage. This represents one of NASA's largest human spaceflight infrastructure investments during the Ares I program era, funding comprehensive manufacturing, assembly, testing, and sustainment engineering across the contract period.

Provide developmental hardware and test articles, and manufacture and assemble ares i upper stages. The upper stage (US) element is an integral part of the ares i launch vehicle and provides the second stage of flight. The US element is responsible for the roll control during the first stage burn and separation; and will provide the guidance and navigation, command and data handling, and other avionics functions for the ares i during all phases of the ascent flight. The US element is a new design that emphasizes safety, operability, and minimum life cycle cost. The overall design, development, test and evaluation (DDT & e), production, and sustaining engineering efforts include activities performed by three organizations; the NASA design team (NDT), the upper stage production contractor (uspc) and the instrument unit production contractor (iupc). For clarity, the uspc will be referred to as the contractor throughout this document. NASA is responsible for the integration of the primary elements of the ares i launch vehicle including: the first stage, US including instrument unit (IU), and US engine; and will also integrate the ares i launch vehicle at the launch site. NASA is responsible for the DDT & e, including technical and programmatic integration of the US subsystems and government-furnished property. NASA will lead the effort to develop the requirements and specifications of the US element, the development plan and testing requirements, and all design documentation, initial manufacturing and assembly process planning, logistics planning, and operations support planning. Development, qualification, and acceptance testing will be conducted by NASA and the contractor to satisfy requirements and for risk mitigation. NASA is responsible for the overall upper stage verification and validation process and will require support from the contractor. The contractor is responsible for the manufacture and assembly of the upper stage test flight and operational upper stage units including the installation of upper stage instrument unit, the government-furnished US engine, booster separation motors, and other government-furnished property. A description of the NASA managed and performed efforts is contained in the US work packages and will be made available to the contractor to ensure their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the NDT, iupc, and contractor during the design, development, and operation of the US element. The US conceptual design described in the USO-CLV-SE-25704 US design definition document (DDD) is the baseline design for this contract. The contractors early role will be to provide producibility engineering support to NASA via the established US office structure and to provide inputs into the final design configuration, specifications, and standards. NASA will transition the manufacturing and assembly, logistics support infrastructure, configuration management, and the sustaining engineering functions to the contractor at the key points during the development and implementation of the program currently planned to occur no later than 90 days after the completion of the following major milestones: manufacturing and assembly US preliminary design review (PDR) logistics support infrastructure US PDR configuration management US critical design review CDR) sustaining engineering US design certification review (DCR) after the completion of an orderly transition of roles and responsibilities to the contractor, NASA will assume an insight role into the contractors production, sustaining engineering, and operations support of the ares i US test program and flight hardware. After DCR, the contractor will be responsible for sustaining engineering per SOW section 4.7, as necessary to maintain and support the US configuration and for production and operations support.