Special Features
A Boeing Plan for Ares I Production -- Boeing team would use Lean, space experience in NASA's Ares I rocket
Ed Memi
Boeing's cost-saving Lean manufacturing practices and human space flight experience are being leveraged in its proposal to build the upper stage of NASA's Ares I rocket at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
Ares I is the first of a new family of rockets NASA is designing to launch crews and cargo into low Earth orbit as the United States steps up its efforts to return to the moon by 2020. For Boeing, the upper-stage production contract represents a key opportunity to support NASA's Constellation space exploration program.
The Ares I capture/proposal team started their efforts more than a year ago, which culminated in the final proposal submitted April 13. Now, the team is preparing for discussions with NASA about the proposal and awaiting NASA's decision in August.
"We offer unique capability to NASA's Ares I team, bringing value based on our experience in commercial, defense and space programs, along with innovation and new advocacy and outreach efforts, said Jim Chilton, vice president of Exploration Launch Systems. "We are completely committed to delivering NASA a safe, affordable, and producible upper stage."
"A large portion of our business is efficiently producing products for the highly competitive commercial marketplace. We looked across Boeing and tapped that expertise for our proposal," Chilton said. "We listened very closely to the customer, and that drove our approach to meet their needs."
Representatives of the Ares I capture team and the Space Exploration Engineering and Operations functional organizations visited six facilities across Boeing over two months to survey and leverage company large-scale production and manufacturing expertise. The team visited facilities in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Seattle, St. Louis, El Segundo, Calif., and Macon, Ga. Each visit included tours of production facilities and detailed presentations from production and manufacturing subject matter experts.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will manage the contract to manufacture and assemble the Ares I upper stage and is responsible for integration and overall design of the Ares family of rockets.
The Ares I upper stage production contract is important to Boeing's space exploration business unit. "One of the things that differentiates this proposal from previous Space Exploration proposals is that we reached across Boeing and are incorporating a lot of production technology in our proposal," Chilton said.
Boeing is competing against an Alliant Techsystems-led team that includes Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Boeing formed a team of suppliers on the Ares I upper stage production that includes Hamilton Sundstrand, Moog Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Orion Propulsion, SUMMA Technology, Inc., United Space Alliance and United Launch Alliance.
"We waited until we had a good understanding of NASA's program requirements before finalizing our teaming relationships. We have a team that is tailored for this procurement and should do very well in the evaluation. We believe that NASA will see the benefit that our team brings," Chilton said.
About half of Boeing's business is in production programs like the upper stage. "We know how to produce efficiently, on schedule and on cost. We will share innovative Lean manufacturing concepts with NASA to provide additional cost reductions," Chilton said. "We know Lean manufacturing can help transform Michoud Assembly Facility using the best practices of our commercial airplanes, defense and space divisions."
Boeing's Space Exploration unit also is busy competing to produce the instrument unit for the Ares I rocket, which sits below the crew exploration vehicle and on top of the upper stage. It includes the avionics and guidance system.
The 309-foot long (94 meters), two-stage Ares I rocket is capable of launching approximately 25 metric tons (27.6 tons) into low Earth orbit. It is slated for its first flight in 2009.