Return to Flight

NASA's 2005 procurements will further the space agency's efforts to bring to life two dreams-one grounded in reality and another soaring among the stars.

NASA already has begun acquiring the technology it needs to heed President Bush's January call for Americans to return to the moon by the end of the next decade. In the coming fiscal year, NASA will step up the pace of research and technology procurements related to the nation's new space exploration initiative. At the same time, it will move closer to its long-standing goal of integrated financial management by outsourcing day-to-day business activities to a commercial hub.

Development for Project Constellation, the effort to design and build a new spacecraft for future explorers, is spinning up. After a series of test flights beginning in 2008, the crew exploration vehicle is targeted for its first manned flight in 2014 and for a human expedition to the moon as early as 2015.

Before the end of fiscal 2004, NASA will announce the winners of several contracts to refine concepts for the crew exploration vehicle. Each contract potentially is worth $6 million, with a six-month base of $3 million and up to six $500,000 monthly options.

Early in 2005, NASA will solicit bids for what it calls the first "spiral" of Project Constellation-design work leading to the first unmanned vehicle demonstration. Two teams will be chosen to build prototypes and test them in a fly-off. The prize will be a contract to develop the actual vehicle.

Before that, fiscal 2005 will open with the October announcement of several development and demonstration projects for human and robotic technologies geared toward Constellation's second spiral and beyond-the lunar return and a later expedition to Mars. Contracts will last up to three years, with values ranging from $4 million to $40 million.

October also will bring the award of a mission design contract for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter. The ambitious mission to look for vast oceans on three planet-sized moons also will demonstrate nuclear power and propulsion technologies that NASA plans to incorporate into its human exploration projects.

In November, NASA will select the science instruments for its fast-track Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The probe is set for launch on a Boeing Delta 2 rocket in October 2008. The 2,200-pound spacecraft will spend at least a year orbiting the moon's South Pole, scouting landing sites and locating natural resources.

In May or June 2005, NASA will select an operator and site for its new Shared Services Center. The competition will pit private-sector bidders against the agency itself under OMB Circular A-76. The facility will consolidate human resources, information technology, procurement and finance functions now scattered among the agency's Washington headquarters and 10 field installations. It is scheduled to open in October 2005 and be fully staffed in 2008. The center will be located near one of six space centers in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas or Virginia. The winning location can expect to gain at least 500 jobs with salaries averaging $60,000.

If Congress honors NASA's $16.2 billion request for fiscal 2005, the agency will do $14.6 billion worth of business with vendors and contractors. It spends almost 90 percent of its annual budget on acquisition of supplies and services.

The agency's spending includes $4.1 billion for space science, $1.8 billion for exploration systems, $1.5 billion for Earth science, $1 billion for biological and physical research, $919 million for aeronautics, and $169 million for education initiatives. Another $6.7 billion is for the space station, the shuttle, and their flight support.