NASA has issued a request for information soliciting ideas on ground processing services for its Constellation Program and the next generation of space vehicles.

NASA hopes to issue a draft request for proposals in the spring next year, awarding a contract in summer 2009.

The just-released request for information seeks input from industry to assist NASA in planning acquisition of ground processing, assembly, integration, test, launch and recovery services at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Those services will support the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle beginning with the first Constellation Program flight tests and continuing with actual missions to the International Space Station and the moon.

The Constellation family of spacecraft is being developed by the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

NASA awarded an initial $3.9 billion contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] last year for development of the Orion crew transportation vehicle, and this year NASA will award the contract for the Ares lifter.