Nasa has awarded the operations and maintenance 2 (O&M2) contract for support services at Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) facility.

The facility is the home of Nasa’s IV&V programme, which provides the agency’s customers with reliability and safety assurance on mission-critical software.

The contract was awarded to the West Virginia University Research Corporation, located in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Under the contract, West Virginia University will be responsible for administration, project management, information technology, facilities maintenance, institutional grounds keeping and janitorial services.

The university will also be required to support the facilities’ operations, maintenance and repair or modernisation, based on Nasa’s decision.

Work under the contract will be undertaken at IV&V.

Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine said: “Nasa’s IV&V programme has performed significant work on a multitude of missions and projects and will provide services to Nasa’s highest-profile missions, including Artemis.

“Katherine Johnson was a beacon of inspiration, representing the best of Nasa’s workforce, and as we look to the future I’m deeply confident in the continued relationship between the agency and West Virginia as we partner with West Virginia University.

“It will take the entire nation to put the first woman and next man on the Moon, and through this partnership, West Virginia will play a key part in this historic accomplishment.”

The cost-no-fee contract is valued at $24.9m. It is effective from 1 October and has a six-month period of performance. The contract comes with four one-year and one six-month options.