NASA SEEKS PRIVATE INDUSTRY BIDS ON SPACE OPERATIONS



March 7, 1997



Steve Nesbitt
Johnson Space Center
(281) 483-5111

<h4>Release: J97-5</h4> <h3>NASA Seeks Private Industry Bids on Space 
Operations</h3> 

NASA&rsquo;s Johnson Space Center (JSC) Tuesday will issue a call for 
proposals from private industry to begin consolidating the 
agency&rsquo;s human and robotic space operations capabilities.



"It&rsquo;s a big, new job for JSC, and is critical to the future of 
the agency," said John O&rsquo;Neill, director of the Space 
Operations Management Office (SOMO). "Our approach will revolutionize 
the way NASA does operations. Saving money in routine operations will 
enable NASA to apply more of its resources to research and, 
ultimately, exploration."



An initial contract is to be awarded in May to develop an "Integrated 
Operations Architecture," a preliminary step leading to award in 1998 
of a single contract known as CSOC, the Consolidated Space Operations 
Contract. That contract is expected to be a multi-year agreement for 
sustaining engineering, operations and maintenance of networks, 
control center facilities, and other critical systems.



In some cases, the contractor will provide control and monitoring of 
spacecraft and related functions. The CSOC contract to be awarded 
later is estimated at $500-$600 million a year for 10 years.



"The contractor under CSOC will have more end-to-end responsibility 
for service products, and will work to our requirements," 
O&rsquo;Neill said.



SOMO was created after an agencywide review under 
O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s direction, looking for efficiencies in similar 
operations around NASA. The review identified common activities at a 
number of centers, indicating potential cost savings through 
consolidation.



The study was a response to NASA&rsquo;s Zero-Base Review that 
recommended the agency focus its civil service resources on science, 
research and development, and move end-to-end operations service 
responsibility and accountability to industry.



SOMO&rsquo;s function will be much like that of a private sector 
operations organization, working toward providing high quality 
operations at a reduced cost, moving civil service resources out of 
operations and into research and development, and commercializing 
whenever possible. Also, as new programs are designed across the 
agency, SOMO will act as a consultant to advise on the most efficient 
and cost-effective methods of operation, O&rsquo;Neill said.



"We&rsquo;re not part of an enterprise or traditional agency process," 
he said. "We&rsquo;re a service management organization, the first of 
its kind in the agency."



The new JSC office will coordinate operations services include 
tracking, telemetry, control, data handling, flight operations 
support and communications. It will provide the environment and 
services required by the flight program, whether human-piloted or 
not. Work that is more standardized will be included in the CSOC, 
while core competency work will stay with the centers.



The initial contractor phase will have private industry examining 
operations and finalizing a catalog of all services to be included. A 
first draft of the mission services catalog can be found at the SOMO 
website at:



http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/somo/svc_cat.html



Additional information about SOMO and CSOC, and a procurement schedule 
is available at:



http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/somo

	
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