WASHINGTON, 24 Sept. 2011. NASA officials—including NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, agency procurement officials, and Space Launch System program managers—will brief contractors and small-business entrepreneurs on NASA’s acquisition strategy for the Space Launch System (SLS) program during a Space Launch System Industry Day. The event, which takes place Sept. 29 at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration in Huntsville, Ala., will serve as a forum for small business leaders to discuss opportunities with representatives of NASA and large prime contractors.
NASA representatives will discuss not only the agency’s acquisition strategy for the Space Launch System program, but also provide an overview of the program, its organization, and vehicle requirement specifics.
The new heavy-lift launch vehicle—the design and development of which Marshall Space Flight Center's engineers are leading—is intended to take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new exploration missions across the solar system. The first full-scale SLS test flight is planned for 2017.
The event spans from 7:55 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. CDT during the Marshall Space Flight Center's quarterly Small Business Alliance Meeting. Among the planned NASA Industry Day speakers are: Garver; Marshall Center Director Robert Lightfoot; Glenn Delgado, associate administrator of NASA's Office of Small Business Programs in Washington; Todd May, director of NASA's Space Launch System Program Office; Kim Whitson, deputy director of Marshall's Office of Procurement; and Earl Pendley, manager of the Space Transportation Support Office in Marshall's Office of Procurement.
View Industry Day live on NASA TV's education channel at:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
