Tennessee company gets multibillion-dollar NASA contract for Kennedy Space Center operations

Feb. 23 (UPI) -- NASA announced Thursday that it will award a new $3.2 billion contract to Jacobs Technologies to manage launch infrastructure and maintain ground systems at Kennedy Space Center.

The Consolidated Operations, Management, Engineering & Test contract from NASA secures engineering, launch, landing and recovery services and more for the agency and commercial partners using the space center in Florida.

Jacobs Technologies Inc., based in Tullahoma, Tenn., previously fulfilled a $1.37 billion Test and Operations Support Contract for NASA that it was awarded in 2012. Under the TOSC contract, Jacobs provided similar services along with servicing and testing flight hardware.

The base of the contract is for three years and five months beginning on May 1. There are additional optional years that can be added to the end of the contract, bringing its "potential" value to $3.2 billion, according to a press release from NASA.

It is a cost-plus-incentive contract, meaning it operates under an initial negotiated fee and adjusts based on services provided throughout the life of the contract.

The COMET contract will be used to support the Orion spacecraft, NASA's space launch system, the International Space Station Program, and more activities at Kennedy Space Center. The contract will also secure assembly services for vehicles, and launch and recovery services for the Artemis program through 2033.