Space Shuttle Participants

Overall direction of the Space Shuttle Program is at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Space Shuttle Program Office, a part of the Office of Space Flight, is responsible for the detailed assignment of responsibilities, basic performance requirements, control of major milestones, and funding allocations to the various NASA field centers.

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Texas is the lead Center and as such has program management responsibility for program control, overall systems engineering and systems integration, and overall responsibility and authority for definition of those elements of the total system that interact with other elements, such as total configuration and combined aerodynamic loads. JSC also is responsible for development, production, and delivery of the Shuttle Orbiter and manages the contract with Rockwell International Space Division.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is responsible for the design of launch and recovery facilities and will serve as the launch and landing site for the Space Shuttle development flight and for operational missions requiring launches in an easterly direction.

The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama is responsible for the development, production, and delivery of the Orbiter main engine, the solid rocket booster, and the hydrogen/oxygen propellant tank.

The contractor team is still growing as the manufactured hardware takes form.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

To establish a national space transportation capability that will