Lockheed joined a race for space-station contracts.

Lockheed said it has joined McDonnell Douglas’ team of companies competing to develop and build a portion of NASA’s manned space station. Under a contract awarded in April, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics in Huntington Beach is performing preliminary design and conceptual studies for the space station, scheduled for operation in the early 1990s. Lockheed Missiles & Space of Sunnyvale, Calif., will assist in thermal control, power management and various habitability features, as well as automation and robotics.