The cost of the Orion crew exploration vehicle that will carry up to six astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from March 2015 has increased by $385 million and it will take two more years to design.
This is because of a NASA requested engineering change proposal issued on 15 December 2006. Because of this change NASA has extended its $3.9 billion five-year contract, won by Lockheed Martin last August, to design, test and build Orion, by two years and increased its total cost to about $4.3 billion.
Two test flights of Orion’s Orbital Sciences designed launch abort system have also been added, increasing the cost. NASA announced the cost increase late on Friday 20 April.
This is because of a NASA requested engineering change proposal issued on 15 December 2006. Because of this change NASA has extended its $3.9 billion five-year contract, won by Lockheed Martin last August, to design, test and build Orion, by two years and increased its total cost to about $4.3 billion.
Two test flights of Orion’s Orbital Sciences designed launch abort system have also been added, increasing the cost. NASA announced the cost increase late on Friday 20 April.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
