Apr 22 1989
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it had awarded a $1.1 billion contract to Lockheed Corporation of Calabasas, California and GenCorp, Inc. of Fairlawn, Ohio, for the development of the Space Shuttle advanced solid rocket motor (ASRM). The ASRM, which would replace the current Shuttle SRMs built by Morton Thiokol, would be a next-generation solid fuel propulsion system that would use an elongated single rocket casing instead of the current segmented case design. According to NASA, the new design would improve Shuttle safety and performance, allowing an additional 12,000-pound payload capacity aboard the orbiters. Lockheed and GenCorp would eventually replace Morton Thiokol as prime contractors for Shuttle solid rock-et propulsion. A faulty field joint on one of Thiokol's segmented boosters was blamed for the catastrophic explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. Under the terms of the seven-year contract, Lockheed's Missile System division and GenCorp's Aerojet Space Booster Company would design, develop, and test the new generation of motors, and produce enough for six Shuttle flights beginning as early as 1994. The contract also had an option, valued at approximately $1 billion, for NASA to purchase ASRMs for 40 additional Shuttle flights and eight test firings. (NASA Release 89-57, Apr 21/89; UPI, Apr 22/89; NY Times, Apr 22/89; W Post, Apr 22/89; LA Times, Apr 22/89; WSJ, Apr 24/89)
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