Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Southern University and A&M College have signed an 18-month NASA mentor-protege agreement to collaborate under NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program. Boeing will provide tactical business and technical support to Southern University to improve its ability to win NASA contracts and subcontracts.
“Boeing has enjoyed a productive relationship with Southern University that will only be enhanced by this NASA Mentor-Protege agreement,” said John Shannon, Boeing SLS vice president and program manager. “The Mentor-Protégé program allows Boeing to promote the growth of small suppliers and strengthen the NASA industrial base.”
Southern University currently provides alumni engineering skills to Boeing for SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. SLS will launch NASA’s Artemis missions. Boeing is the prime contractor for the design, development test and production of the SLS core stage, as well as development of the flight avionics suite.
The agency’s program will unite large companies with small businesses and minority-serving institutions. The partnerships are intended to enhance the protégés' capabilities and enable them to successfully compete for larger, more complex contracts.
“We are honored to be the first HBCU [historically Black colleges and universities] to enter into a Mentor-Protege agreement with Boeing,” said Ray Belton, president of the Southern University System and chancellor of Southern University and A&M College.
The Boeing SLS program employs Boeing’s workforce in Huntsville, Alabama, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and at other Boeing sites and with suppliers across the United States.
About Boeing
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. A top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries.
Boeing employs more than 160,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.
