Insider Brief:
- NASA has selected nine U.S. companies to conduct early-stage studies aimed at enabling more frequent and cost-effective missions to Mars.
- The selected companies are Lockheed Martin, Impulse Space, Firefly Aerospace, United Launch Services (ULA), Blue Origin, Astrobotic Technology, Albedo Space Corporation, Redwire Space, and SpaceX.
- Some of the key concepts include “space tugs” to transport other spacecraft to Mars, spacecraft designed to host scientific instruments and cameras, and telecommunications relays.
NASA has announced the selection of nine U.S. companies to conduct early-stage studies aimed at enabling more frequent and cost-effective missions to Mars.
The selected companies, Lockheed Martin, Impulse Space, Firefly Aerospace, United Launch Services (ULA), Blue Origin, Astrobotic Technology, Albedo Space Corporation, Redwire Space, and SpaceX, will each receive between $200,000 and $300,000 to study potential services such as payload delivery, communications relay, surface imaging, and payload hosting to support future Red Planet missions.
The studies are part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP), which seeks to advance high-priority science objectives through innovative partnerships with government, industry, and international entities. Many of the proposed concepts aim to adapt existing technologies used for lunar and Earth missions for application to Mars.
Some key concepts include “space tugs” to transport other spacecraft to Mars, spacecraft designed to host scientific instruments and cameras, and telecommunications relays.
Eric Ianson, director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, expressed enthusiasm about the new era of space exploration, discussing the rapid growth of commercial interest and capabilities. He emphasized the importance of exploring public-private partnerships to support scientific endeavours on Mars in the coming years.
The selected studies fall into four categories:
Small Payload Delivery and Hosting Services
Companies like Lockheed Martin, Impulse Space, and Firefly Aerospace will adapt existing lunar-exploration spacecraft or Earth-vicinity orbital transfer vehicles to deliver and host small payloads on Mars.
Large Payload Delivery and Hosting Services
ULA, Blue Origin, and Astrobotic Technology will modify spacecraft to accommodate larger payloads for Mars missions.
Mars Surface-Imaging Services
Albedo Space Corporation, Redwire Space, and Astrobotic Technology will adapt existing imaging satellites and spacecraft to provide high-resolution images of the Martian surface.
Next-Generation Relay Services
Companies like SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin will adapt or modify existing communication satellites and spacecraft to provide relay services between Mars and Earth.
The studies are expected to conclude in August and will provide detailed reports on the feasibility and potential benefits of these commercial services for Mars exploration. While they could lead to future requests for proposals, they do not signify a NASA commitment at this stage.
It’s important to note that these Mars Exploration Commercial Services studies are separate from NASA’s Mars Sample Return campaign, which aims to bring samples collected by the Perseverance rover back to Earth for further analysis.
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Mars Exploration Program aims to provide a continuous flow of scientific information and discovery through a series of robotic orbiters, landers, and mobile laboratories interconnected by a high-bandwidth Mars-Earth communications network. All scientific data and associated information from these missions are archived in the NASA Planetary Data System.
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