Nasa has awarded the Unified Nasa Information Technology Services (UNITeS) extension contract to Virginia-based Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Under the extension, which takes the project through to January 2011 and raises the ceiling value of the initial contract to more than $1.3bn, SAIC will continue to provide information technology services to Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama.

SAIC senior vice-president and UNITeS programme manager Dan Harris said the MSFC and enterprise-wide services they provide are continuing to help Nasa leverage technology to achieve greater efficiencies and cost savings.

The initial contract awarded in January 2004 has an eight-month base period of performance valued at nearly $120m, and six one-month options valued at $116m, bringing the total value of the extension to more than $235m if all options are exercised.