ExecutiveBiz ExecutiveBiz covers emerging companies in Washington's government contracting sector. 
NASA has awarded four companies contracts to perform research and development work aimed to address technology gaps as the country transitions to the Next Generation Air Transportation System, known as NextGen.
Boeing, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and Saab Sensis will also aim to address operational challenges posed by trans-atmospheric flight and extra-terrestrial planetary flight, NASA said in a June 3 FedBizOpps post.
The potential five-year contracts are worth up to $38 million combined and contain two base years with three one-year follow on options.
Contractors will be responsible for conducting basic and applied research, developing technology and analyzing systems in airborne and ground-based systems used for flight safety, management and control.
Awardees will also evaluate technologies for situational awareness in air traffic control and requirements for human subject experiments, NASA says in the notice.
