ASRC Federal System and Solutions (AFSS) team was recently recognized by the NASA’s Space Flight Awareness (SFA) Program and Lockheed Martin for its many contributions to the success of the Orion Space Flight mission as part of Artemis I.
I’m incredibly proud of our team and their accomplishments in support of the Orion program. We are grateful to be a trusted partner and supplier to Lockheed Martin for the assembly, integration and test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis missions,” said Tassos Abadiotakis, vice president of space coast operations.
SFA is a NASA-managed motivational and recognition program with invited representation from NASA and contractors having major responsibilities for human spaceflight mission success. The SFA program is managed by NASA Headquarters’ Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
Since its inception in 1963, SFA’s mission has been to ensure that all employees involved in human space flight are aware of the impact their actions can have on astronaut safety and mission success. The SFA Supplier Award honors outstanding performance by hardware, software and service suppliers, SFA contractors, vendors and subcontractors who support NASA human space flight programs. Awardees are chosen based on their production of high-quality products, excellent technical and cost performance and adherence to schedules.
“The team delivered high-quality products and excellent technical and cost performance in association with Orion’s production in support of the Artemis I spacecraft,” Abadiotakis continued.
The ASRC Federal team includes certified spacecraft technicians, engineers, planning and scheduling support, materials handling and floor inspectors who manufacture the Orion vehicle in Florida. AFSS is also supporting Lockheed Martin with the assembly, integration and test of the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II-IV in the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
In 2023, there was an unusually high demand for experienced aerospace technicians across KSC. This demand included a massive labor-ramp up leading to the successful flight of the Artemis I mission, SpaceX’s increased flight tempo and launch rate and other projects ramping up their production and flight rates.
“Our team was able to quickly reverse the attrition rate of our experienced workforce and increase our overall net headcount by more than 100 full-time employees to meet program requirements and schedule commitments,” Tassos says. “At the same time, we ramped up our workforce support for the production efforts on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II – Artemis IV.”
A number of people on the team were also recognized for individual SFA awards for management, trailblazing and local program support. ASRC Federal employees were also proud recipients of NASA’s SFA awards in 2023.
