DTN News: General Dynamics Awarded $642.2 Million To Modernize NASA Satellite System Ground Segment

DTN News: General Dynamics Awarded $642.2 Million To Modernize NASA Satellite System Ground Segment

*General Dynamics-led team to ensure continuous space-to-ground telecommunications of NASA’s global space network for decades to come

Source: DTN News / General Dynamics

(NSI News Source Info) SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - June 18, 2010: General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded a seven-year contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center for the Space Network Ground Segment Sustainment (SGSS) project. The company will modernize the ground system and network for NASA’s Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has a total potential value of approximately $642.2 million, including options. The period of performance is from June 21, 2010, through June 20, 2017.

As prime system integrator for the project, General Dynamics will implement a new ground-system architecture that ensures the space network will continue to provide global space-to-ground telecommunications and tracking coverage for low-Earth orbit and near-Earth space flight missions. Particular focus will be given to project integration, testing and operational transition so the new system is implemented without interruption to ongoing operations of the space network, which supports all NASA scientific and human space flight missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.

Commenting on General Dynamics’ 30-year commitment to supporting U.S. space programs, including ongoing involvement with the constellation and ground system, John Weidman, vice president of National Systems for General Dynamics C4 Systems, said, “As we modernize this critical national asset, the focus of our team’s efforts is ensuring the NASA Space Network continues the highly-reliable service it has delivered for nearly three decades.”

Operating out of the White Sands Complex in New Mexico and the TDRSS Terminal in Guam, the new flexible, extensible and scalable system will also expand the capabilities needed for future space missions by accommodating larger quantities of data with expanded coverage at greater distances.

General Dynamics will staff the SGSS project from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., and at its SpacePlex facility at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park in Las Cruces, N.M.

General Dynamics is collaborating on the contract with a team of small and large businesses which has rich NASA experience, including Harris Corporation of Melbourne, Fla.; GMV Space Systems of Rockville, Md.; Rincon Research Corporation of Tucson, Ariz.; a.i. Solutions of Lanham, Md.; RT Logic of Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Qwaltec of Tempe, Ariz.

General Dynamics C4 Systems is a leading integrator of secure communication and information systems and technology. With approximately 11,000 employees worldwide, the company specializes in command and control, communications networking, computing and information assurance for defense, government and select commercial customers in the United States and abroad.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 91,200 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies.

More information about General Dynamics is available online at http://www.gd.com/.