Posted: Tue, Feb 1, 2005, 7:35 AM ET (1235 GMT)
Lockheed Martin announced Monday that it will work with a group of companies, including a European aerospace firm, to develop concepts for NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle. Lockheed said its CEV team will include United Space Alliance, Honeywell, Orbital Sciences, Hamilton Sunstrand, and a European company, EADS Space Transportation. Lockheed, which made the announcement at a space exploration conference the company is sponsoring in Florida, hopes to be one of two teams NASA plans to select later this year to begin work on the CEV, with a final contractor selection to be made in 2008. Last week Northrop Grumman and Boeing finalized a previously-announced sponsorship to work together on the CEV competition. NASA plans to make the CEV, its first human-rated spacecraft since the shuttle was developed in the 1970s, the cornerstone of the Vision for Space Exploration, its plan to send humans back to the Moon and later to other destinations in the solar system. The CEV is currently scheduled to enter service in 2014.

Related Links:

•  Aviation Week article
•  Lockheed Martin press release
•  Orbital Sciences press release