The companies include:

- Alenia Spazio - An expert in spacecraft design, integration and test, advance composite structures and thermal management systems and analysis, Alenia Spazio built Nodes 2 and 3, Multipurpose Logistics Modules, European Space Agency Columbus laboratory and the Cupola modules for the International Space Station.

- ARES - A leading engineering, risk management and project management services company, ARES offers the Northrop Grumman/Boeing team extensive experience in the organizational implementation of advanced risk-management techniques.

ARES is the prime contractor for program integration and control of NASA's International Space Station as well as the main support contractor for the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance.

- Draper Laboratory - Supporting United States human spaceflight programs from Apollo through the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, Draper specializes in the development of autonomous and highly reliable flight systems for human space systems and has also been leading a Concept Exploration and Refinement study contract for NASA.

Its areas of expertise include advanced guidance, navigation and control technologies; autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations; in-space servicing; and autonomous mission management.

- United Space Alliance - Bringing the Northrop Grumman/Boeing team extensive experience in space operations, United Space Alliance's 10,000 employees in Florida, Texas and Alabama support NASA's human space flight programs with expertise in space launch and recovery operations; mission planning and control; ground systems and flight hardware processing; space flight training; on-orbit assembly, payload deployment and servicing; rendezvous operations and docking; and complex space systems integration.

CEV is the first crewed element in NASA's new Constellation Systems, a collection of human and robotic space systems that will allow astronauts to travel safely and cost-effectively to the Moon, Mars and beyond beginning in the middle of the next decade.

NASA plans to award one or more CEV system development and demonstration contracts in Sept 2005. Following a flight demonstration in 2008, the space agency is expected to select a single contractor team to begin full-scale development of the CEV.

"The subcontractors we've assembled to support the Northrop Grumman and Boeing space exploration team includes some of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most innovative space systems thinkers in the world," said Doug Young, Northrop Grumman's corporate lead executive for space systems.

"Their expertise will help us not only design and produce an elegant solution for CEV, but also manage the critical system development risks, both technical and financial, that must be in harmony with the mission requirements of our NASA customer."

"As a team, Boeing and Northrop Grumman offer NASA more than 90 years of combined space systems experience, including leading roles with every major human space mission to date," said Chuck Allen, Boeing vice president, Space Exploration Systems.

"In putting together the 'best-of-the-best' CEV team, we have subcontractors who share our commitment to the Vision for Space Exploration."

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