Ed Campion Headquarters, Washington, DC September 30, 1996 (Phone: 202/358-1780) James Hartsfield Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (Phone: 713/483-5111) RELEASE: 96-195 SHUTTLE CONTRACT CONSOLIDATION BEGINS NEW ERA OF EFFICIENCY NASA has begun a new era in the Space Shuttle Program this week by consolidating much of the ground processing and in-flight operations of the Shuttle under a simplified contract signed with a single company, United Space Alliance (USA). The six-year, $7 billion base contract includes two, two-year extension options that could bring the total estimated contract value to about $12 billion over ten years. While maintaining safety as the top priority and keeping the current annual flight rate intact, the new contract is expected to reduce the cost of flying the Space Shuttle. The contract assigns greater responsibility to the contractor, reducing the government's role in overseeing day- to-day, routine shuttle operations. Following a transitional period, NASA's involvement in the work accomplished by USA will be geared more to managing unusual and critical issues that may occur during shuttle processing. NASA will retain ultimate responsibility for safe Space Shuttle operations and will continue to direct high- level management of the Space Shuttle Program and flight operations. A variety of mechanisms -- such as structured surveillance and audits, reviews of unusual, "out-of-family" problems, safety performance grading that is linked to the contract's award fees, and a detailed system of metrics -- will be used to ensure that safety always remains the contractor's highest priority. The new single prime contract, called the Space Flight Operations Contract (SFOC), NAS 9-20000, replaces 12 previous individual contracts, the largest two of which had covered shuttle ground processing work at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, performed by Lockheed-Martin Space Operations and shuttle operations work performed by Rockwell Space Operations Co. at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. USA is a joint venture announced last year by Rockwell and Lockheed-Martin in preparation to compete for NASA's request for a single shuttle operations contract. This is the first phase of the SFOC, and its content includes preparatory work for operation of the International Space Station as well as the Space Shuttle. A second phase of the SFOC that may be negotiated with USA could include another 16 contracts covering the supply of such critical Space Shuttle components as the main engines, external tank and solid rockets. The second phase of consolidation may result in even greater cost reductions for the government. The Phase I contract includes a unique incentive that rewards USA for cost savings. The incentive allows the contractor to retain 35 percent of any cost savings, while 65 percent of the savings go back to the government. Conversely, the contractor will be penalized in a similar fashion for any cost overrun. The SFOC's provisions for NASA's semi-annual grading of the contractor's performance -- grades which determine the amount of fee, or profit, awarded to the contractor each six months -- are designed to emphasize safety. As part of the standard contract provisions that have NASA grade the overall performance of the contractor each six months, SFOC contains the first-ever provision for a performance grade based solely on safety. The safety grade will be one of the factors used each six months to determine the amount of fee -- profits -- that are awarded. Any safety grade less than "very good" also would eliminate the cost-reduction incentive feature for the past six months, a provision designed to guard against the possibility of an overzealous contractor cost reduction effort impacting the safety of shuttle operations. To ensure safety is maintained, the transition of responsibilities from NASA to USA for day-to-day shuttle operations will be performed on a highly structured, job-by- job basis, taking into account the criticality levels and complexity of the individual tasks and equipment involved. Each area of shuttle work has already developed a task list that identifies the responsibilities to be handed over to the contractor and a specific schedule for each change. For each task where the lead responsibility is being changed from NASA to the contractor, an individual schedule will be developed that includes oversight by NASA until the government has determined the contractor is ready to assume responsibility for the task. NASA may retain day-to-day responsibility in some areas that deal with highly critical equipment or processes. Other contract stipulations designed to ensure safety include a requirement that USA inform NASA immediately about all problems encountered with highly critical shuttle components and any abnormal, "out-of-family" problems encountered with any Space Shuttle component. NASA may then choose to independently evaluate the problems, and the final decision on the problem's resolution will be kept with NASA in all cases. In addition, the contract prohibits the contractor from making any changes to a critical shuttle process without NASA approval. -end- NASA press releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type the words "subscribe press- release" (no quotes). The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. 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