NASA has announced that it has awarded $1.5 million contracts to seven private companies to further develop their proposals for the revamped Mars Sample Return mission. These companies have caught the attention of the agency, and their ideas could potentially improve NASA’s current $11 billion, 15-year plan. The selected companies and the titles of their proposals are as follows:
- Lockheed Martin: “Lockheed Martin Rapid Mission Design Studies for Mars Sample Return”
- SpaceX: “Enabling Mars Sample Return With Starship”
- Aerojet Rocketdyne: “A High-Performance Liquid Mars Ascent Vehicle, Using Highly Reliable and Mature Propulsion Technologies, to Improve Program Affordability and Schedule”
- Blue Origin: “Leveraging Artemis for Mars Sample Return”
- Quantum Space: “Quantum Anchor Leg Mars Sample Return Study”
- Northrop Grumman: “High TRL MAV Propulsion Trades and Concept Design for MSR Rapid Mission Design”
- Whittinghill Aerospace: “A Rapid Design Study for the MSR Single Stage Mars Ascent Vehicle”
A total of ten studies were selected, including two from NASA centers and the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Applied Physics Laboratory. These selections were made after NASA put out a request for proposals in April.
However, the titles of the proposals do not provide much information about the respective ideas. For example, it is not surprising that SpaceX is proposing Starship for the mission, but the specific details of how the vehicle will be used for sample collection and return are still unclear. This is the purpose of the study period – to help NASA determine if there are viable alternative mission designs or elements that could safely bring samples back from Mars.
The request for proposals stated that studies could range from complete overhauls of the mission design to incorporating elements from NASA’s MSR mission or Artemis program.
NASA’s decision to turn to private industry came after acknowledging that its current MSR architecture is incredibly complicated. In fact, it’s more accurate to refer to it as a series of missions rather than a single one, as it involves the Perseverance rover, a unique sample retrieval lander, a Mars Ascent Vehicle, and an Earth return orbiter. All of these components would have to work together flawlessly in order to successfully collect and transport the samples.
Last year, an independent review board recommended that NASA reevaluate the mission design due to concerns about technical features and high costs. As a result, the agency is now doing exactly that. In documents related to the request for proposals, NASA stated its desire for a less complex mission design that would also reduce costs and allow for an earlier return date.
The chosen companies will start their work in July and complete their studies by October.
