They have awarded contracts to eight aerospace firms for Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition III spacecraft and related services, NASA officials have informed.

Under its Rapid III contract, each contractor has one or more core spacecraft offerings available. All Rapid III contracts have a combined potential maximum value of $4 billion.

The contractors selected are: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp in Boulder, Colo.; General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Gilbert, Ariz.; The Lockheed Martin Corp. of Denver; the Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va.; Surrey Satellite Technology U. S. LLC of Englewood, Colo.; the Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. of Redondo Beach, Calif.; Thales Alenia Space Italia in Rome; and Thales Alenia Space in France.

NASA said in a statement "Rapid III is a multiple-award contract that provides a rapid and flexible means for the government to acquire spacecraft and related services in support of science and technology needs. The selected contractors are now eligible to compete for future spacecraft systems that NASA or other federal government agencies may require."

The principle purpose of the Rapid III contracts is to provide core spacecraft systems with any necessary modifications to meet specific mission needs, the space agency further said. (With Inputs from Agencies)