After 15 years of development, Lockheed wins new cost-plus contract for Orion

Enlarge / NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, was shown the Orion test crew capsule that will be used for the Ascent Abort-2 test. NASA's Jon Olansen, second from left, speaks as Orion Program Manager Mark Kirasich looks on. (credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

On Monday, NASA announced that it had awarded a new $4.6 billion "production" contract to Lockheed Martin for six additional Orion spacecraft, which will be used for Artemis missions to the Moon, mostly during the 2020s.

"This contract secures Orion production through the next decade, demonstrating NASA's commitment to establishing a sustainable presence at the Moon to bring back new knowledge and prepare for sending astronauts to Mars," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a news release.

The contract is good politics for Bridenstine, a former member of Congress. After his decision last month to base the lunar lander program at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, Congressional representatives from Texas pushed back. They complained that Johnson Space Center, in Houston, should manage the lander program.

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