NASA has awarded contracts with a total value of $1.4 million to six companies to conduct studies on cost-effective approaches to launching and deploying spacecraft to challenging orbits.
NASA Exploring New Launch & Delivery Approaches
The firm-fixed-price contracts will include nine studies tackling the potential of using orbital transfer vehicles for NASA missions. The selected companies and their studies are:
- Arrow Science and Technology will leverage Quantum Space’s multi-mission Ranger spacecraft, which has rapid maneuverability and adaptability features, to deliver payloads to various destinations.
- Blue Origin will conduct two studies on a new Glenn upper stage and Blue Ring, a mobile space platform with hybrid solar-electric and chemical propulsion capability for payload delivery, onboard computing and mission operations.
- Firefly Aerospace will utilize its Elytra orbital vehicles, including Elytra Dark, for payload delivery, imaging, communications and cislunar space domain awareness.
- Impulse Space will also conduct two studies involving its Mira and Helios space vehicles.
- Rocket Lab will also provide two studies on its Neutron rocket and an orbital transfer vehicle based on the Explorer spacecraft.
- United Launch Services will evaluate how an extended-duration Centaur V upper stage, designed to transport multiple rideshare payloads to different locations, can support cislunar missions.
Once the studies are completed by mid-September, NASA will leverage the results to guide mission design, planning and procurement strategies for risk-tolerant payloads.
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