NASA Awards Long-term Contract, Solidifies Artemis Missions

In a 23 September 2019 news release, NASA announced it has awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado for the production of several Orion spacecraft.By starting the production line, NASA is supporting up to 12 Artemis Missions.The Orion Production and Operations Contract (OPOC) commits to a minimum of six and a maximum of 12 missions.This will establish a core set of capabilities, stabilise the production process, and demonstrate reusability of spacecraft components.*
According to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine:
This contract secures Orion production through the next decade, demonstrating NASA's commitment to bring back new knowledge and prepare for sending astronauts to Mars.
Orion is a highly capable,
state of the art spacecraft, designed specifically for deep space missions with astronauts, and an integral part of NASA's infrastructure for Artemis Missions and future exploration of the solar system.*
The contract provides three Orion spacecraft for Artemis Missions III-V for 2.7 billion dollars.The agency will then order three additional capsules for Missions VI-VIII for 1.9 billion.*
The long-term plan is to reuse the recovered crew modules at least once.Adds Orion Program manager Mark Kirasich:
No other spacecraft in the world can keep humans alive hundreds of thousands of miles from the Earth for weeks at a time with the safety features,crew accommodations, technical innovations and reliability that Orion provides.With the design and development phase of Orion largely behind us, this new contract will enable us to increase efficiencies,reuse the spacecraft, and bring down the cost of transporting people between Earth and the Gateway.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)