CSC/Shaw venture wins Space Wing work
The venture will provide the 45th Space Wing's Spaceport Information System.
A joint venture company led by Computer Sciences Corp. has won a $335 million contract from the Air Force's 45th Space Wing.
Space Coast Launch Services, a venture of CSC and the Shaw Group, will provide command operations, maintenance and sustainment support for unmanned space vehicles. The contract, announced May 11, has a five-month base period and 10 one-year options.
The pact represents new business for CSC, which already works with the 45th Space Wing through Computer Sciences Raytheon, a joint venture with Raytheon. CSC holds a majority stake in both ventures.
Under the new contract, Space Coast Launch Services will provide the 45th Space Wing's Spaceport Information System. That system consists of commercial software products for work management and cost accounting.
The company will use CSC's AppliedInsight product to tie in existing Air Force systems that contribute cost information. AppliedInsight is a set of tools for integrating, presenting and analyzing data, said Keith Humphryes, program manager for Space Coast Launch Services.
The spaceport system will also include an enterprise portal that lets users customize the information they receive via a desktop dashboard.
Integrating existing systems ranks among the contract's top challenges. The CSC/Shaw venture will replace Jacobs Sverdrup as the 45th Space Wing's operations and maintenance contractor. The new contractor must deal with a variety of systems that include commercial products and custom-built applications, said Larry Hare, president of CSC's Applied Technology Division.
The company has already started recruiting people to staff the Air Force contract, Hare added. The bulk of the employees will be hired from the incumbent workforce during a 60-day transition period that ends June 30, he said.
Space Coast Launch Services also has subcontractors to augment its staff. Teammates include ExecuSys, a Melbourne, Fla., company that will provide IT support services, and Yang Enterprises, an Oviedo, Fla., firm that will provide logistics support and procurement services.