NASA has selected nine US companies to conduct concept studies on commercial services for science missions to the Red Planet. The companies will receive between $200,000 and $300,000 to produce detailed reports on potential services, including payload delivery, communications relay, surface imaging, and payload hosting.
This mosaic is made up of more than 100 images captured by NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter, which operated around Mars from 1976 to 1980. The scar across the center of the planet is the vast Valles Marineris canyon system. Credit: NASA/USGS
The selected companies were chosen from among those that responded to a January request for proposals from US industry. The studies aim to support a broad strategy of partnerships between government, industry, and international partners to enable frequent, lower-cost missions to Mars over the next 20 years.
Many of the proposals center on adapting existing projects currently focused on the Moon and Earth to Mars-based applications. These include "space tugs" to carry other spacecraft to Mars, spacecraft to host science instruments and cameras, and telecommunications relays.
The selected studies are divided into four categories: Small payload delivery and hosting services, Large payload delivery and hosting services, Mars surface-imaging services, and Next-generation relay services.
The 12-week studies are planned to conclude in August, and a study summary will be released later in the year. These studies could potentially lead to future requests for proposals but do not constitute a NASA commitment.
NASA is also requesting separate industry proposals for its Mars Sample Return campaign, which seeks to bring samples being collected by the agency's Perseverance rover to Earth.
The Mars Exploration Program, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, aims to provide a continuous flow of scientific information and discovery through a carefully selected series of robotic orbiters, landers, and mobile laboratories interconnected by a high-bandwidth Mars-Earth communications network.
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