The contract is part of a new agreement with the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, which operates the Space Telescope Science Institute for Nasa.

CSC will continue to provide support services including project management, mission preparation, development and maintenance of ground systems, computer, network and database operations, education and public outreach, and scientific research. It will also offer science planning and scheduling, instrument characterization and calibration, development and maintenance of science instrument software instructions, data processing and archiving, and archive operations.

CSC has said that about 50 scientists, systems engineers, software developers, information technology administrators and operations engineers will perform the work.

Tom Anderson, president of North American public sector civil division at CSC, said: We look forward to continuing our scientific support and technology services for Nasa’s premier scientific project, the Hubble Space Telescope, which has revolutionized astronomy by providing deep and clear views of the universe.

In August 2008, CSC has won a Contract Field Teams (CFT) contract from the US Air Force. It is one of the seven firms to have won the contract. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a two-year base period, two two-year and one one-year options, bringing the total combined maximum ceiling value of the seven-year contract for all firms to $10.1 billion.