Shuttle Deal Could Reach $12 Billion Over 10 Years

United Space Alliance, a joint venture of Seal Beach-based Rockwell International Corp. and Maryland’s Lockheed Martin Inc., officially replaces NASA today as operator of the nation’s space shuttle program.

The final Space Flight Operations contract approving the joint venture was signed Monday in Houston. The initial six-year pact is valued at $6.3 billion, and there are options for a pair of two-year extensions that would bring the total to $12 billion for 10 years.

There was a big contract-signing ceremony at United Space Alliance headquarters in Houston and celebrations at various Rockwell space division units that will profit from the deal, but there were no special events at Rockwell corporate headquarters Monday to mark the day.

That’s partly because the contract was anticlimactic. Everyone in the business has known since late last year that the Rockwell-Lockheed venture was going to get the award. The two companies were the biggest shuttle program contractors when NASA said in August 1995 that it wanted to consolidate everything under one operator. They formed their joint venture that month, and NASA said in November that it intended to pursue an agreement with the joint venture.

But there’s another reason much wasn’t made of the contract signing in Seal Beach: Rockwell is selling its space units to Boeing. The $3.2-billion deal is set to close in December.

John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations, manufacturing and economic issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com