Astrotech Corporation, a leading provider of commercial space services, announced Feb. 12 that its Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary has been awarded a NASA task order contract to provide payload processing services for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory – 2 satellite at ASO’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, facility.
OCO-2 is the first mission awarded by NASA under the current Not-to-Exceed $16 million Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity task order contract that runs through December, 2017. The Jet Propulsion Lab satellite, scheduled to launch in July 2014, will be NASA’s first dedicated Earth remote sensing satellite to study atmospheric carbon dioxide from space.
“Astrotech is proud to have been selected by NASA for this important mission,” stated ASO General Manager Don M. White, Jr. “We are excited to play a role in gathering these critical CO2 measurements.”
In January, NASA awarded a Not-to-Exceed $9.1 million Infinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity task order contract to ASO Florida to provide commercial payload processing services for satellites launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
From Titusville, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, California, Astrotech Space Operations provides all support necessary for government and commercial customers to successfully process their satellite hardware for launch, including advance planning; use of unique facilities; and spacecraft checkout, encapsulation, fueling, and transport. In its 31-year history, Astrotech has supported the successful processing of more than 300 spacecraft.
