Boeing Unit Reverses Its Stance on NASA Contract

Just two months after its space division chose not to bid on what could be a $6-billion contract to take over many of NASA’s space operations, Boeing Co.’s Orange County-based defense and aerospace subsidiary has decided to enter the fray.

At stake is a contract worth $500 million to $600 million a year for 10 years.

Lockheed Martin Corp., the Bethesda, Md., defense giant, is the only other announced bidder, NASA officials said Thursday. Bids on the first phase of the contract are scheduled to be submitted May 2 with the final award slated for June 1998.

Boeing North American’s Downey-based Space Division decided in February not to sign on as a bidder for NASA’s Consolidated Space Operations Contract because it did not have the capability to handle such a large contract.

Space Division executives believed their resources were being stretched to the limit with existing contracts and the job of fitting the operation, which Boeing bought last year from Rockwell International Corp., into Boeing’s corporate structure. But things change.

John McLuckey, the former president of Rockwell’s aerospace and defense division who now heads Boeing North American Inc., Boeing’s Seal Beach-based subsidiary, reviewed the decision and decided the contract was too big to ignore.

The contract isn’t expected to create significant new employment, but will bring a lot of revenue to the winning bidder.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration project is part of the agency’s effort to reduce costs by turning over some of its operations to the private sector.

The contract winner would take over the operation, maintenance and engineering of NASA’s critical data processing and mission control facilities, said John O’Neill, director of space operations for the agency.