KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., 2 Nov. 2011.The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA] has partnered with Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, to use the Kennedy Space Center’s Orbiter Processing Facility-3 (OPF-3) and Processing Control Center (PCC) to manage, manufacture, assemble, and test the Boeing Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft. The agreement, whereby a private company is assuming government-owned property, is being called the first of its kind. Boeing officials plan to consolidate the company’s Commercial Crew program office, manufacturing, and operations at the site.
Boeing officials, in partnership with Space Florida, plan to modernize the facilities with efficient production and testing operations and incorporate best practices from satellite manufacturing, space launch vehicles, and commercial airplane production programs.
The Commercial Crew program consists of developing, manufacturing, testing, and evaluating, and demonstrating the CST-100 spacecraft, launch vehicle, and mission operations. All these activities are part of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Transportation System (CCTS) for NASA’s new Commercial Crew human spaceflight program, providing flights to the International Space Station.
Boeing’s system will also be capable of supporting Bigelow Aerospace’s planned orbital space complex.
The CST-100, a reusable capsule-shaped spacecraft, can transport up to seven people or a combination of people and cargo. Boeing engineers designed the spacecraft to be compatible with a variety of expendable rockets and selected the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V launch vehicle for initial CST-100 test flights in 2015.
“Pending the continued selection of Boeing for future Commercial Crew development and service contracts, and sufficient NASA funding, we project a Commercial Crew program workforce ramping up to 550 local jobs by our scheduled operational date of December 2015. The CST-100 will provide NASA with reliable, safe, and affordable transportation to the International Space Station and other destinations in Low Earth Orbit,” says John Mulholland, vice president and program manager of Commercial Programs for Boeing Space Exploration.
"This positions our state well for future growth and a leadership role in NASA's next generation human space exploration initiatives. It is also a key factor in ensuring Florida's space-related economy continues to thrive after shuttle retirement," says Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida.
The OPF-3, previously used to perform maintenance on the space shuttle orbiters, provides 64,000 square feet of manufacturing and processing areas and 64,000 square feet of office, laboratory, and logistics areas. The PCC consists of 99,000 square feet of control rooms and office space Boeing plans to use to support mission operations, training, and program offices. The PCC previously supported shuttle orbiter testing, launch team training, and computer system software and hardware development and maintenance operations.
