By Cecilia Butini

Airbus SE said Thursday that its U.S. subsidiary Airbus Helicopters Inc. has signed a $15 million contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to provide maintenance and support for its fleet of three H135 helicopters.

The company said the contract, which falls under its HCare customer support service, will initially cover two years with the option of extending it to 10.

Airbus will manage all of NASA's scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and spare parts, and it will also oversee the aircrafts' flight operations, it said.

NASA purchased the H135 helicopters from Airbus for use at its Cape Canaveral base, Airbus said. Delivery of the new fleet will begin later this month.

Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com