United Space Alliance is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing

Boeing

The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

 and Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....

. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 and, employed approximately 8,800 people in Texas, Florida, Alabama, and the Washington, D.C. area.

History

United Space Alliance was formed as a limited liability company as a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin in response to NASA's desire to consolidate many Space Shuttle program contracts to one prime contractor. USA and NASA signed the Space Flight Operations Contract in September 1996 to become the single prime contractor that NASA was seeking. USA supported the contract for 10 years through September 2006. This led to USA and NASA agreeing to the Space Program Operations Contract.

Current business

USA's major business was until 2011 operation and processing of NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

 fleet and International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight training, research and flight control. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres in Houston, Texas, USA...

 and John F. Kennedy Space Center. This work was defined by the Space Program Operations Contract (SPOC) between NASA and USA. The contract runs from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2010, which was to be the end of Space Shuttle operations. The contract includes five one-year options that could extend the contract through Fiscal Year 2015. Efforts under the Space Program Operations Contract include work and support for mission design and planning; software development and integration; astronaut and flight controller training; system integration; flight operations; vehicle processing, launch and recovery; vehicle sustaining engineering; flight crew equipment processing; and Space Shuttle and International Space Station-related support to the Constellation Program. It is a cost reimbursement contract, with provisions for award and performance fees.

With NASA's transition from the Space Shuttle to smaller service and support contracts, one of the new contracts is the Integrated Mission Operations Contract (IMOC) to provide flight operations support for the Constellation Program and International Space Station Program in Houston through September 30 2011. Also, USA has signed a subcontract with Alliant Techsystems

Alliant Techsystems

Alliant Techsystems Inc., most commonly known by its ticker symbol, ', is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the United States with more than 18,000 employees in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally, and 2010 revenues in excess of an estimated...

 for support of the Ares I

Ares I

Ares I was the crew launch vehicle that was being developed by NASA as part of the Constellation Program. The name "Ares" refers to the Greek deity Ares, who is identified with the Roman god Mars...

 launch vehicle.

In November 2010, was selected by NASA for consideration for potential contract awards for heavy lift launch vehicle

Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle

A Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle, or HLLV, is a launch vehicle capable of lifting more mass into Low Earth Orbit than Medium Lift or Mid-Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles.There is no universally accepted capability requirements for heavy-lift launch vehicles....

system concepts, and propulsion technologies.

External links

• United Space Alliance LLC