Maintaining shuttle services

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has signed a $975m contract extension with NASA to continue maintaining the space shuttle main engines for three more years

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has signed a $975m contract extension with NASA to continue maintaining the space shuttle main engines for three more years.

The award is an extension of a contract that began in 2002, which will now finish in September 2010.

Jim Maser, president of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, said: ‘The safety of our astronauts remains our number one priority. With new technologies like the Advanced Health Management System scheduled for its first active flight on Endeavor next week, we will continue to deliver flawless performance to our customer.’

Last month, NASA awarded Pratt & Whitney a $1.2bn contract to design, develop and test the J-2X engine for the upper stages of the Ares I and V launch vehicles.