Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

Tag: lunar lander

Leidos’ Dynetics scores $90M NASA contract

Dynetics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Reston-based Fortune 500 government contractor Leidos Holdings Inc., has received a potential $90 million contract from NASA to produce a laser air monitoring system (LAMS) for the agency’s Orion spacecraft, beginning with the Artemis III mission, which plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972’s Apollo 17 mission.

Derived from an air monitoring system flown on the Mars Curiosity rover, LAMS  is a new air monitoring technology that will measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, temperature and pressure within Orion during Artemis missions to the Moon. The system is accurate enough to detect unsafe levels of these elements in cabin air composition, giving crews time to respond.

Dynetics also created the first version of the system for NASA to use in the Artemis II Orion spacecraft, scheduled to be the first manned mission in NASA’s Artemis lunar program.

The contract is valued at $17.8 million for production of the Artemis III LAMS unit, as well as a qualification unit, design modifications and long-lead procurement items in support of the Artemis IV and V missions, but the contract has a maximum potential value of $90 million, should additional flight units or components be needed for the Orion program or other NASA programs and projects. The period of performance extends through 2025, according to the release.

Located in Huntsville, Alabama, Dynetics offers engineering, scientific, IT solutions to the national security, cybersecurity, space and critical infrastructure sectors. Dynetics is currently protesting NASA’s $2.89 billion contract award for the design of the human lunar lander to billionaire Elon Musk’s California-based SpaceX. Dynetics and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company were also in the running and both have entered formal protests of the contract award.

Leidos subsidiary submits lunar lander proposal to NASA

Dynetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reston-based Fortune 500 government contractor Leidos Holdings Inc., announced Wednesday it has submitted its proposal for the Human Landing System (HLS) that is planned to take the first woman and next man to the man’s surface for NASA’s Artemis Program by 2024.

In late April, Dynetics was one of three companies tapped (including Amazon.com Inc. and SpaceX) to design the human lunar landing system . The total combined value of the awarded contracts is $967 million. During a 10-month period, each of three companies are developing competing designs for the HLS, and one will be selected to build it. 

“Our team is making great progress on our system design and analysis, hardware development, and testing,” Kim Doering, Dynetics vice president of space systems, said in a statement. “The incredible volume of technical data and outstanding products delivered to date speak to the power of the swift, yet rigorous, engineering approach with which the team has executed.”

Dynetics provided NASA with early design efforts, mission plans as well as details about hardware, software and test activities. The company is currently performing tests of the main engines at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 

“We believe this body of work lays a solid foundation for our crew-centric, sustainable solution to become NASA’s choice for safe human transportation to and from the lunar surface,” Doering said in a statement.

Leidos acquired Dynetics for $1.65 billion in February 2020 in an all-cash transaction. Dynetics is also working on NASA’s Space Launch System Core Stage, Exploration Upper Stage and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle as well as the International Space Station.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.