NASA taps Maximus for smart-card system

Maximus Inc. has won a contract from NASA to develop an agencywide smart-card system, the company announced today.

The task order was awarded through the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service. While the task order has a ceiling of $93.6 million, the initial value is about $10 million over two years, the company said.

Under the contract, Maximus of Reston, Va., will develop a "One NASA" identification card to be used by all agency employees and contractors.

The company and its teammates will develop a centralized card management system to administer and issue NASA credentials, work with certificate authorities and physical access systems, and manage network access. Maximus also will provide access control readers and visitor badge systems for selected NASA facilities.

The enterprise smart card will allow NASA employees and contractors to conduct business using a single card for both physical and logical access, including public key infrastructure-enabled applications.

About 90,000 people at 15 major NASA facilities are expected to receive the identification cards over the next two years.

The company will conduct a pilot project at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., before rolling out the system to other agency facilities.

Maximus' primary subcontractor is Electronic Data Systems Corp., Plano, Texas. Other key subcontractors are ActivCard Corp, Fremont, Calif.; Risk Management Associates Inc., Raleigh, N.C.; and ISR Solutions, Chantilly, Va.

Maximus has more than 5,500 employees and annual sales of $558 million, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas.