Boeing Co. awarded Astrotech Space Operations a $1.6 million contract for payload processing, Astrotech parent company Spacehab Inc. announced Aug. 3.

Under the contract, Astrotech will supply and install payloads for the Orbital Express mission conducted by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The contract runs through September.

The Orbital Express mission, scheduled to be launched in December, will demonstrate technology for performing robotic, autonomous on-orbit refueling and reconfiguration of satellites.