Lockheed leads $4bn Orion mission

has selected the

team to design and build the agency’s next-generation human space flight crew transportation system known as Orion, with an initial contract value of approximately $4bn.

Orion, an advanced crew capsule design, is a key element of NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration, and will succeed the Space Shuttle in transporting a new generation of human explorers to and from the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually to Mars and beyond.

In partnership with NASA, Lockheed Martin will serve as prime contractor and will lead an industry team that includes Honeywell, Orbital Sciences Corporation, United Space Alliance and Hamilton Sundstrand, supporting NASA in the design, test, build, integration and operational capability of Orion.

Orion will transport up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station, and up to four crew members for lunar missions. The new crew vehicle is designed to be an order of magnitude safer, more reliable, more affordable and more operationally efficient than previous human space flight systems.