spacetoday.net: Lockheed to locate CEV office in Texas

Posted: Sun, Mar 26, 2006, 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT)
Lockheed Martin CEV capsule design (LM)

Lockheed Martin will establish the program office for the Crew Exploration Vehicle in Houston should it be selected by NASA to build the manned spacecraft, the company announced Friday. Lockheed said it would conduct systems engineering, software development, and qualification testing work for the CEV in Houston, creating up to 1,200 new jobs. The state is offering an unspecified package of training and infrastructure improvements to bring the office to the area. Lockheed previously announced that it would create several hundred jobs in Florida handling final assembly and testing of the spacecraft. Other jobs will be located in Louisiana and Colorado. Northrop Grumman, which has teamed with Boeing to also compete for the CEV contract, has not disclosed its workforce plans. NASA plans to make a decision on the CEV contract later this year.