Air & Space Support: The Aerospace Corp. FFRDC
For a number of years now, The Aerospace Corp. of El Segundo, Calif. has provided Scientific, Engineering and Technical support for the USAF’s Space and Missile Systems Center, and other Department of Defense Programs.
The Aerospace Corp. is actually a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC). The aerospace FFRDCs are non-profit companies that provides technical analyses and assessments for US national security and space programs. This may include scientific and engineering support involving launch, space, and related ground support systems, research and advisory services, general systems engineering, engineering support, and systems integration support. Most people in the industry know them as publishers of the excellent Crosslink magazine, but see their program involvement timeline for a better sense of how broad their efforts have truly been. As they put it:
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“Aerospace utilizes a unique engineering and technology matrix (pdf) to support all space programs. Our Engineering and Technology Group comprises the core of the company’s technical talent, which can be applied across all programs and customer needs. No other company has the breadth of knowledge and experience in space systems or the depth of talent in such a broad array of scientific and engineering disciplines. This type of integrated technical structure gives us the flexibility to focus very specialized expertise on the most uncommon technical problems.”
Contracts
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Sept 28/12: A $1.113 billion contract modification contract for FY 2013 scientific and engineering support to the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Work is expected to be complete by Sept 30/13, the end of the fiscal year (FA8802-09-C-0001, PO 0080).
There doesn’t appear to be a 2011 announcement.
Sept 30/10: A $925.2 million contract, exercising Option 2 of the current contract to provide Scientific, Engineering and Technical efforts in support of the Space and Missile Systems Center, other US government agencies, and approved allies. Funds will be committed as work is ordered for specific projects (FA8802-09-C-0001, PO 0044).
Sept 30/09: A $925.6 million award “to extend the existing contract for one year” of Scientific, Engineering and Technical efforts in support of the Space and Missile Systems Center and other Department of Defense programs (FA8802-09-C-0001, PO 0021).
Nov 4/08: A $797.1 million base year award for a new Aerospace Corp. FFRDC contract, which supports the USAF and other Department of Defense programs. $27.9 million has been committed by Los Angeles AFB, CA (F08802-09-C-0001).
The contract announcement does not mention option years.
New base contract
Sept 14/07: A $840.7 million modification exercising the 4th and final option year for the current contract. They will provide Scientific, Engineering and Technical Effort in support of the Space and Missile Systems Center and other Department of Defense Programs. At this time no funds have been obligated. The Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center, in El Segundo Calif. issued the contract (FA8802-04-C-0001, PO 0066).
Sept 29/06: A maximum $808 million cost-plus-fixed fee contract modification, exercising option 3 of the current contract to provide Scientific, Engineering and Technical services. This option will be complete in September 2007 (FA8802-04-C-0001, PO 0049).
Option 2 does not appear to have been announced on DefenseLINK.
Oct 4/04: A maximum $679.6 million cost-plus fixed-fee contract modification, exercising pre-priced option 1 of 4 potential contract options in accordance with special contract requirement H001 of the contract. Negotiations were complete in October 2004, and work will be complete by September 2005. The USAF Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo, CA manages the contract (FA8802-04-C-0001, PO 0016).
Oct 1/03: A maximum $612.7 million cost plus fee contract to provide for up to 3,692,400 staff hours of technical effort for systems engineering support to Department of Defense programs, and up to 181,000 staff hours of technical effort for system engineering support to non-DoD programs. Specific orders will be issued under each contract or option as required.
The dollars and hours indicated are for the base year of the 5-year contract, which encompasses 1 base year and 4 one-year options. All options are exercised unilaterally at the discretion of the government. At this time, $100 million of the funds has been obligated, and further funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. Work on the base contract will be complete by September 2004. The Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo, CA issued the contract (FA8802-04-C-0001).
Base contract
