NASA adds Blue Origin's New Glenn 9x4 to its launch services contract
NASA has added Blue Origin's New Glenn 9x4 launch service to its NLS II contract under an on-ramp clause, making the vehicle available to its Launch Services Program for future missions.
NASA has added Blue Origin’s New Glenn 9x4 launch service to its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract, opening the vehicle to selection for future agency missions.
The addition, announced on September 29 in contract release C26-013, was made under the contract’s on-ramp clause. The New Glenn 9x4 service will now be available to NASA’s Launch Services Program Office, based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to use for future missions.
The NLS II contracts are multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity agreements with an ordering period running through June 2030 and an overall period of performance through December 2032. The on-ramp provision gives new launch service providers an annual opportunity to compete for future missions and lets existing contractors introduce vehicles not currently covered by their NLS II contracts.
The NLS II contracts support the agency’s Human Spaceflight, Science, and Research and Technology mission directorates. Under the contract, NASA can also provide launch services to other government agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The move puts Blue Origin’s New Glenn 9x4 in the pool of vehicles NASA can draw on as it lines up launches for science and exploration missions over the rest of the decade.
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