NASA Selects Dozen U.S. Companies For Moon To Mars Partnerships

Artist's concept of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule prepared for launch.

Credit: NASA

Today, NASA announced it has selected 12 U.S. commercial companies for 19 partnerships in its crewed Moon to Mars efforts, which kicks off with a planned 2024 Artemis program crewed return to the lunar surface.

The selections entail six key areas for future development as well as a category for other exploration technologies. They are: advanced communications, navigation and avionics; entry, descent and landing; in-space manufacturing and assembly; advanced materials; power; and propulsion.

“We’ve identified technology areas NASA needs for future missions, and these public-private partnerships will accelerate their development so we can implement them faster,” Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s space technology mission directorate, said in a statement.

The selected companies include:

Elon Musk’s SpaceX which NASA says will work with the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to advance technology to vertically land large rockets on the Moon; including advancing models to assess engine plume interaction with lunar regolith. SpaceX will also work with NASA on advancing tech needed to transfer propellant in orbit, which the space agency says is an important step in the development of the company’s Starship space vehicle.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will collaborate with NASA on advanced navigation and guidance systems to enable safe, precise landings on the Moon, says the agency. And NASA says the company will also partner with them on advancing a fuel cell power system for the company’s Blue Moon lander. The system, says NASA, could provide uninterrupted power during the lunar night, which lasts for about two weeks in most locations.

Advanced Space of Boulder, Colo., will partner with NASA on advancing a navigation system between Earth and the Moon that could supplement NASA’s deep space network and support future exploration missions, says the agency.

Spirit Aerosystem, Inc. of Wichita, Kan., will partner with NASA on improving the durability of low-cost reusable rockets manufactured using friction stir welding, says the agency. This welding method which is already being used for NASA’s Space Launch System allows for stronger, more defect-free seals.

Maxar Technologies of Palo Alto, Calif., will work NASA to build a breadboard – a base for prototyping electronics – for a deployable, semi-rigid radio antenna, says NASA. In-orbit assembly of large structures like antennas will enhance the performance of assets in space, says the agency.

And Lockheed Martin will partner with Kennedy Space Center to test technologies and operations for autonomous in-space plant growth systems, says NASA. The idea is that integrating robotics with plant growing systems could help NASA harvest plants on future platforms in deep space.

Illustration of a human landing system and crew on the lunar surface with Earth near the horizon.

Credit: NASA

All of this work is aimed at returning NASA to the moon using robotic and crewed vehicles.

Artemis 1, an uncrewed flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion (crew vehicle) together, is scheduled for 2020, says NASA, while Artemis 2, the first flight with crew, is targeted for launch in 2022.

NASA says it plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 on the Artemis 3 mission and about once a year thereafter. The goal of these missions will be in part to learn how to live and operate on the surface of another celestial body, says the agency. There, only three days from home, it will be easier to prove the technologies needed before sending astronauts on missions to Mars, says NASA, which can take up to three years roundtrip.

The aim is to begin crewed Mars missions by the 2030s.

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