Aug. 27, 2009 (United Press International) -- NASA announced the awarding of a one-year, $33 million contract extension to provide cargo integration services for the International Space Station.

Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems Inc. of Houston has held the ISS cargo mission contract since January 2004. NASA said the one-year extension will bring the total value of the contract to $381 million.

The contract provides cargo packing for delivery to and from the space station, consisting of pressurized and unpressurized science and logistics carriers, assembly hardware and crew support, the space agency said. Other contract services include determining the most efficient way to pack cargo, verifying the adequacy of the integrated carriers, packing the pressurized cargo into sub-carriers and returning the cargo to providers once it returns to Earth.

The extension begins Oct. 1 and is the second of two such options included in the original contract.