Beth Dickey/Melissa Mathews
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2087/1272

Kim Newton
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034

CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-030

NASA AWARDS UPPER STAGE ENGINE CONTRACT FOR ARES ROCKETS

WASHINGTON - NASA has signed a $1.2 billion contract with Pratt and
Whitney Rocketdyne Inc., of Canoga Park, Calif., for design,
development, testing and evaluation of the J-2X engine that will
power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles.

The contract includes ground and test flight engines. It continues
work that began on June 2, 2006, under a preliminary letter contract
with Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.

NASA awarded the cost-plus-award fee contract to Pratt and Whitney
Rocketdyne on a sole-source basis, NASA determined that no other
existing capability meets its architecture requirements and is able
to be extended to future exploration missions to the moon and beyond.


The contract performance period extends through Dec. 31, 2012. Engines
for operational missions will be purchased through a separate
contract.

The J-2X is an evolved version of two historic predecessors: the
powerful J-2 engine that propelled the Apollo-era Saturn IB and
Saturn V rockets, and the J-2S, a simplified version of the J-2 that
was developed and tested in the early 1970s. Pratt and Whitney
Rocketdyne designed and developed both the J-2 and the J-2S and has
been responsible for producing, refurbishing and improving them. The
J-2X engine will incorporate significant upgrades to meet higher
performance and reliability requirements for the Ares vehicles.

Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will transport the Orion
crew exploration vehicle to low Earth orbit. Orion will accommodate
as many as six astronauts. The first stage will consist of a single
reusable solid propellant rocket booster similar to those used on the
space shuttle, with an additional fifth segment. The second, or
upper, stage will consist of a J-2X liquid oxygen- and liquid
hydrogen-fueled main engine and a new upper stage fuel tank.

Ares V will enable NASA to launch a variety of science and exploration
payloads, as well as key components needed to go to the moon and
later to Mars. Ares V, a heavy lift launch vehicle, will use five
RS-68 liquid oxygen- and liquid hydrogen-fueled engines mounted below
a larger version of the space shuttle's external tank and two
five-segment solid propellant rocket boosters for the first stage.
The upper stage will use the same J-2X engine as the Ares I.

The J-2X upper stage engine is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala., for NASA's Constellation Program.

For information about NASA's Constellation Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation