Rocket Maker Launches Deal With NASA

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. said Wednesday that it has received a $140.6-million contract to provide rocket launch services to NASA.

The Huntington Beach-based company will provide services for the launch of three of its Delta II rockets for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the next five years. The contract also includes options to provide services for 12 additional launches, which could extend the contract to 1998.

“We see this as a logical step in the development of the Delta program,” said Donald Tutwiler, a McDonnell Douglas executive for the Delta program. Previously, McDonnell Douglas supplied its Delta rocket to NASA while the space agency provided the launch services. Now the rocket maker will also supply launch services for NASA.

The contract calls for the launch of the first satellite, Geotail, aboard the Delta II rocket. The next two launches, of the Wind and Polar satellites, will be launched on a more powerful version of the Delta II.

The Geotail and Wind satellites are scheduled to be launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in July, 1992, and December, 1992, respectively. Polar will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in June, 1993.