NASA Appoints 7 Companies To Develop Concepts Of Returning Mars Samples

NASA supports the study of returning Mars samples (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA In April, NASA opened up opportunities for companies looking to develop the concept of Mars Sample Return (MSR). All interested companies had to submit concept proposals. After receiving proposals from various companies, NASA finally selected seven concepts on June 7. The selected companies are Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quantum Space, SpaceX, and Whittinghill Aerospace. Based on Spacenews reports, these seven private companies must develop alternative concepts for the MSR program for 90 days. Awards given to each of these companies are worth 1.5 million US dollars (Rp24 billion). NASA did not disclose details of the entire selected proposal. However, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Northrop Grumman, and Whittinghill Aerospace are known to focus on developing Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a rocket carrying samples from the Martian surface. Meanwhile, SpaceX offers Starship vehicles to sample and Blue Origin plans to use the tools used in the Artemis mission, namely the Space Launch System and the Moon Gate.

In addition to supporting concept studies from seven companies, NASA also supports studies conducted by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Applied Physics Laboratory, and other groups. These various studies have the same work schedule as industry studies. Studies from NASA companies and facilities will begin in mid-July. After 90 days of work, NASA will review studies that have been worked on, both from the company and from its institutional facilities.