Boeing, NASA’s lead industry partner for the International Space Station (ISS) since 1993, will continue supporting the famous orbiting laboratory through September 2024 under a $916 million contract extension.
The announcement, made Wednesday in a press release, comes as the world marks two decades of constant human habitation on the ISS — an incredible record no other crewed spacecraft has even come close to achieving.
Under the contract extension, Boeing will provide engineering support services, resources and personnel for activities aboard the ISS and manage many of the station’s systems.
Work will reportedly be conducted at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as other locations around the world. Boeing employees in North Alabama will work closely with NASA personnel at Marshall and perform sustaining engineering and advanced studies, providing technology advancements, including engineering and manufacturing support for the ISS.
NASA selected Boeing as the ISS prime contractor in 1993. Throughout development, assembly, habitation and daily operations aboard the station, Boeing has partnered closely with the agency to help NASA and its international partners safely host astronauts and cosmonauts for months at a time. The astronauts conduct microgravity experiments that help treat disease, increase food production and manufacture technology impossible to produce on Earth’s surface.
“As the International Space Station marks its 20th year of human habitation, Boeing continues to enhance the utility and livability of the orbiting lab we built for NASA decades ago,” John Mulholland, Boeing vice president and program manager for the ISS, said in a statement.
“We thank NASA for their confidence in our team and the opportunity to support the agency’s vital work in spaceflight and deep-space exploration for the benefit of all humankind,” he added.
Congress, NASA and its international partners have agreed to extend ISS operations to at least 2024. According to Boeing, recent structural analysis shows that the spacecraft continues to be safe and mission-capable.
In related ISS news, NASA on Thursday is broadcasting live a spacewalk outside the ISS in which two astronauts will upgrade the station’s power system. Another spacewalk for the same purpose will also be broadcast live on Tuesday, July 21. The astronauts are installing special batteries made in Huntsville by Boeing during these spacewalks.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
