Boeing awarded NASA contract to build Ares 1 Instrument Unit Avionics ring

William Atkins
Thursday, 13 December 2007 04:42

Science - Space

The Boeing Company announced Wednesday, December 12, 2007, that it was awarded the NASA contract to build the Instrument Unit Avionics (IUA) ring for the Ares 1 rocket, which will launch the Orion capsule into space.               

As part of NASA’s new Project Constellation, this contract represents the last contract to be awarded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Ares 1 rocket.

Boeing states that most of the work for the contract will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, where the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is located, and in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is located. For the project Boeing is estimating that it will employ about 100 technical personnel at Marshall and about 20 production and engineering support personnel at Michoud.

The Instrument Unit Avionics (IUA) will be designed and produced at Marshall, while it will be assembled onto the upper stage of Ares at the Michoud facility.

Boeing already works closely with NASA personnel at Marshall in support of avionics design requirements and functional integration for missile defense systems, the International Space Station, and other space projects.

During its pursuit of the contract, Dwight Potter, manager of Boeing’s Ares 1 IUA program, stated, "Boeing's vast experience in manufacturing and integrating avionics systems into military, space and commercial products will significantly lower customer risks. We'll continue to rely on our experienced, industry-rated workforce in Huntsville as well as a network of local and national suppliers to execute a producible, high quality and affordable system. These long-term relationships are critical to providing NASA a tailored, innovative solution." [Boeing news release on July 13, 2007]

The initial NASA contract to produce the Ares 1 Instrument Unit Avionics is valued at about $265 million. The IUA ring will provide hardware for guidance, navigation, and control of the new Ares 1 crew launch vehicle, which will launch astronauts into space aboard the Orion space capsule. The IUA consists of an array of onboard computers, communications equipment, gyroscopes, flight controls and other instruments to monitor the Ares 1 rocket’s speed and position while launching the Orion space capsule into space.

According to the initial contract, Boeing will produce three IUA flight test units and another six production units. If approved by NASA, Boeing will then have an option to build four more units between the years of 2014 to 2016.