A $23.5 Million Contract for Screening What Is Up There

NASA has awarded a contract to Omitron Inc. for orbital safety analysis services, work the agency describes as critical protection for NASA spaceflight assets and astronaut lives. It is an indefinite-delivery contract valued at approximately $23.5 million over five years, and its scope covers conjunction assessment screening for all NASA uncrewed spacecraft, support of human spaceflight activities, and orbital safety analysis support to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Space Commerce. Conjunction assessment is the screening side of orbital traffic: checking whether objects in orbit are on paths that bring them close to one another. The division of duties is worth noticing — robotic spacecraft in one column, crewed missions in another, and a commerce office alongside both.