The work will be delivered under the Human Health and Performance Contract 2, a follow-on, single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity agreement beginning on 1 November.
The contract has a five-year base period with two potential extension options, which could see it run through to 2035, with a total estimated value of US$3.6 billion (AU$5.3 billion). Leidos of Reston, Virginia, will serve as a subcontractor.
The contract covers support for multiple NASA programs, including the Human Research Program, the International Space Station Program, the Commercial Crew Program and the Artemis lunar exploration campaign.
Services will include maintaining astronaut health, safety and performance; providing occupational health services; and undertaking research to reduce health risks for future human spaceflight crews.
NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate is NASA’s primary centre for ensuring the health and safety of astronauts during space missions. Based at Johnson Space Center, the directorate integrates medical operations, occupational health, biomedical research and human performance monitoring to support both current missions and long-duration exploration goals.
The Human Health and Performance Directorate’s work spans:
- Astronaut medical care – covering pre-flight health screening, in-flight medical support and post-flight rehabilitation.
- Occupational health – protecting the wellbeing of NASA staff and contractors on the ground, including industrial hygiene and environmental health services.
- Human factors and performance – studying how spaceflight conditions such as microgravity, radiation, isolation and confined living affect crew performance, and developing countermeasures.
- Space medicine research – including developing exercise regimes, nutrition plans and medical technologies to sustain human health on missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
KBR has been a long-time NASA contractor, supporting human spaceflight programs for decades. Under the first Human Health and Performance Contract, awarded in 2016, KBR provided similar services in medical operations, biomedical research, behavioural health and human performance engineering.
The programs covered under the new contract include:
- Human Research Program – focused on identifying and mitigating risks to astronaut health and performance.
- International Space Station Program – providing ongoing crew health support for astronauts aboard the ISS.
- Commercial Crew Program – supporting private spacecraft operators such as SpaceX and Boeing to ensure crew safety.
- Artemis campaign – NASA’s program to return astronauts to the moon and prepare for crewed Mars missions.
This contract award reflects NASA’s ongoing investment in human spaceflight health capabilities as the agency transitions from low-Earth orbit operations towards sustained deep-space exploration.