Boeing starts NASA solar electric propulsion study

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Jan. 11, 2012. The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has begun work on a four-month NASA contract to develop a mission concept study for solar electric propulsion technologies. Under the $600,000 firm, fixed-price contract, Boeing will evaluate concepts that combine high-power solar arrays with advanced electric thrusters to power spacecraft and payloads to high Earth orbit and deep space destinations.

Boeing is one of five contractors selected to develop a mission concept to demonstrate solar electric propulsion technologies, capabilities and the infrastructure required to affordably sustain a human presence in space. Phantom Works will conduct the study in Huntington Beach with support from Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems electric power and propulsion experts in El Segundo, Calif.