International Space Station orbits earth — The International Space Station in orbit. (NASA / Unsplash)

On Friday, January 12, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it had selected 12 companies and institutions from across the country to provide research, engineering and mission integration services for the International Space Station (ISS) Program. Among those 12 companies are four from Alabama, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

NASA selects 12 companies for Research, Engineering & Mission Integration Services-2 contract

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center — The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (NASA / Unsplash)

According to a NASA press release, the Research, Engineering & Mission Integration Services-2 (REMIS-2) contract totals $478 million and will support the work of the International Space Station Program, a collaborative project between five national space agencies and private contractors, including SpaceX.

Did you know? The ISS has spent 25 years in Low Earth orbit (LEO) and has hosted more than 270 astronauts from various nations.

The companies selected for the REMIS-2 contract are:

Aegis Aerospace, Inc. (Houston, Texas)
Axient Corp (Huntsville, Alabama)
Cimarron Software Services (Houston, Texas)
Consolidated Safety Services (Exploration Park, Florida)
JES Tech (Houston, Texas)
KBR Wyle (Fulton, Maryland)
Leidos (Webster, Texas)
Metis (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Oceaneering (Houston, Texas)
Tec-Masters (Huntsville, Alabama)
Teledyne Brown Engineering (Huntsville, Alabama)
University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, Alabama)

The REMIS-2 contract officially began on Friday, January 12 and will end on September 30, 2030, with an option to extend through September 30, 2032.

How UAB will support the ISS Program

UAB Campus — The UAB campus in Birmingham. (Jacob Blankenship / Bham Now)

During the seven-year REMIS-2 contract, UAB and the other selected companies will support the work of the ISS by:

Providing spaceflight, ground hardware and software services
Sustaining engineering functions and services
Developing payload facility integration
Providing research mission integration operations services

Although the majority of the companies’ work will take place at contractor facilities, some services may be required at other NASA centers, contractor/subcontractor locations or vendor facilities.

The REMIS-2 contract is hardly the first time UAB has worked with NASA. For example, NASA awarded UAB’s Engineering Innovation and Technology Development research group a $48.3M contract for building and maintaining cold-stowage units on the ISS in 2020.

Excited to see UAB selected to support the work of the ISS by NASA? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know!