WASHINGTON, 23 April 2008. NASA has selected General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems Inc., to build the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft.
Under the terms of the $116 million delivery order, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems will be responsible for the design and fabrication of the LDCM spacecraft bus, integration of the government-furnished instruments, satellite-level testing, on-orbit satellite check-out, and continuing on-orbit engineering support. Company representatives will also provide a spacecraft/observatory simulator.
LDCM is a component of the Landsat Program conducted jointly by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the Department of Interior. NASA is providing the LDCM spacecraft, the instruments, the launch vehicle, and the mission operations element of the ground system. USGS is providing the mission operations center and ground processing systems, as well as the flight operations team.
The delivery order was awarded under NASA's Rapid II indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract. The Rapid II contract is for core spacecraft systems, with non-standard services--including operations, launch services, components, and studies--to meet the government's space science, Earth science, and technology needs.
The contract includes fabrication and testing of the spacecraft with mission specific design modifications; generation of interface control documents, instrument and full spacecraft integration; testing, shipment to the launch site, launch vehicle integration support, and on-orbit checkout.
