UPDATE 1-Orbital gets $1.9 bln contract from NASA

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Small rockets and space system maker Orbital Sciences Corp (ORB.N) said it was selected by NASA for a $1.9 billion contract to provide cargo transportation services to and from the International Space Station.

These cargo transportation services will be conducted between 2011 and 2015, Orbital said.

The contract amount covers transportation services for about 20 metric tons of cargo, which would be accommodated by eight missions of Orbital's commercial resupply services system, the company said in a statement.

NASA and other civilian agencies and universities alone accounted for about 33 percent of Orbital's 2008 revenue, according to the company's website.

Its other customers include Boeing (BA.N), Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), Raytheon (RTN.N) and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Orbital is currently developing Taurus II, its new commercial launch vehicle, that would compete with smaller launch vehicles of Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N).

Shares of Orbital were trading at $19.50 after the bell. They closed at $18.73 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by A.Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar) ((ananthalakshmi.as@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: ananthalakshmi.as.reuters.com@reuters.net))