spacetoday.net: Boeing wins Ares avionics contract

Posted: Thu, Dec 13, 2007, 8:17 AM ET (1317 GMT)
Ares 1 instrument unit illustration (Boeing)

NASA announced Wednesday that it has selected Boeing as the prime contractor for the avionics system on the Ares 1 launch vehicle, the last major contract to be awarded for the rocket that will launch the Orion manned spacecraft. The contract for the Ares 1 instrument unit has a base value of $265 million; additional tasks and production of flight units could raise the total contract value to just under $800 million. Boeing beat out a competing proposal led by Ball Aerospace. The contract is the last major one to be awarded for the development and production of the Ares 1, a two-stage vehicle designed primarily to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle into Earth orbit. Earlier this year Boeing, which had lost out on a number of previous exploration-related contracts, won the contract to produce the Ares 1 upper stage.