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Overview
Checkout, Assembly & Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) is a service contract that Boeing has with NASA to receive, tag and make ready all NASA payloads flying into space. Boeing personnel and teammates assigned by NASA work at the Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility and various clean rooms used for satellite and cargo processing.
Boeing responsibilities under the CAPPS contract include:
- Receiving and processing payloads.
- Performing engineering and facilities support and maintenance activities related to preparing payloads for launch in the Space Shuttle's payload bay.
- Preparing mission cargo.
- Testing for launch vehicle compatibility.
- Extracting payloads at mission end.
- Operating and maintaining associated facilities and ground systems.
Boeing has prepared more than 2 million pounds of payloads for flight, launched on both space shuttle and expendable launch vehicle missions. Boeing crews and teammates have processed payloads on every space shuttle mission, a legacy that began with the Columbia's maiden flight in April 1981.
For more information, read the Checkout, Assembly & Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) (PDF) overview.
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