By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : United Space Alliance (USA), a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary named Space Flight Operations (SFO) to provide space operations products and services to commercial and international customers, a company official said here Wednesday.
The Houston-based company, which assists the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the space shuttle, international space station and constellation programmes, provides space systems ground operations and processing, mission operations, flight software and integrated logistics.
“By working with NASA, we have developed a range of capabilities in space operations having direct application in market sectors beyond the US civil space programme,” USA’s vice-president for exploration systems Neal Hammond told IANS on the third day of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) being held at the international convention centre on the outskirts of the city.
As long-term space exploration requires collaboration and innovation on a global basis, space operations become critical to enterprises and the diversified international space community.
“In the growing space market, we want to hard sell our domain expertise in space operations and extend our skill base to serve potential customers with innovative solutions tailored to their specific needs,” said Hammond, who also heads the subsidiary.
To showcase its products and services, USA has put up a stall in the US pavilion in the space expo, being held as part of the 58th IAC in the adjacent HiTex facility.
“We have timed the announcement of this new business venture during IAC 2007 as the premier event offers an ideal opportunity to explore business prospects and target new customers,” Hammond added.