NASA has chosen six firms to provide research centered on lower-cost methods to launch and ship spacecraft of assorted sizes and varieties to a number of, difficult-to-reach orbits.
The firm-fixed-price awards comprise 9 research with a most complete worth of roughly $1.4 million. The awardees are:
- Arrow Science and Know-how LLC, Webster, Texas
- Blue Origin LLC, Merritt Island, Florida
- Firefly Aerospace Inc., Cedar Park, Texas
- Impulse House Inc., Redondo Seashore, California
- Rocket Lab, Lengthy Seashore, California
- United Launch Providers LLC, Centennial, Colorado
“With the rising maturity of economic house supply capabilities, we’re asking firms to display how they’ll meet NASA’s want for multi-spacecraft and multi-orbit supply to difficult-to-reach orbits past present launch service choices,” mentioned Joe Dant, orbital switch automobile strategic initiative proprietor for the Launch Providers Program at NASA’s Kennedy House Heart in Florida. “This may improve distinctive science functionality and decrease the company’s total mission prices.”
Every of the six firms will ship research exploring future software of orbital switch autos for NASA missions:
Arrow will associate with Quantum House for its examine. Quantum’s Ranger offers payload supply service as a multi-mission spacecraft engineered for fast maneuverability and adaptableness, enabling multi-destination supply for missions from low Earth orbit to lunar orbit.
Blue Origin will produce two research, together with one for Blue Ring, a big, high-mobility house platform offering full-service payload supply, on-board edge computing, internet hosting, and end-to-end mission operations. It makes use of hybrid solar-electric and chemical propulsion functionality to succeed in geostationary, cislunar, Mars, and interplanetary locations. The second is a New Glenn higher stage examine.
Firefly’s line of Elytra orbital autos provides on-demand payload supply, imaging, long-haul communications, and area consciousness throughout cislunar house. Firefly’s Elytra Darkish is supplied to function a switch automobile and allow ongoing operations in lunar orbit for greater than 5 years.
Impulse House will produce two research. The corporate offers in-space mobility with two autos, Mira and Helios. Mira is a high-thrust, extremely maneuverable spacecraft for payload internet hosting and deployment, whereas Helios is a high-energy kick stage to quickly ship payloads from low Earth to medium Earth orbits, geostationary orbits and past.
Rocket Lab’s two research will characteristic the higher stage of the corporate’s Neutron rocket, in addition to a long-life orbital switch automobile primarily based on its Explorer spacecraft. Each autos are outfitted with their very own propulsion programs and different subsystems for missions to medium Earth and geosynchronous orbit and deep house locations just like the Moon, Mars, and near-Earth asteroids.
United Launch Alliance will assess the cislunar mission capabilities of an extended-duration Centaur V higher stage. Centaur could be able to straight delivering a number of rideshare spacecraft to 2 totally different orbital locations in cislunar house, avoiding the necessity for an extra rocket stage or orbital switch automobile.
The research will probably be full by mid-September. NASA will use the findings to tell mission design, planning, and business launch acquisition methods for risk-tolerant payloads, with a chance of increasing supply providers to larger-sized payloads and to much less risk-tolerant missions sooner or later.
NASA’s Launch Providers Program chosen suppliers by means of the company’s VADR (Enterprise-Class Acquisition of Devoted and Rideshare Launch Providers) contract, which helps foster progress of the U.S. business launch market, enabling better entry to house at a decrease value for science and know-how missions.
For extra details about NASA’s Launch Providers Program, go to:
https://www.nasa.gov/launch-services-program
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Josh Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Leejay Lockhart
Kennedy House Heart, Florida
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov