Astrolab wins NASA contract worth up to $1.9 billion.......for the development of Artemis campaign’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. confirmed that NASA has awarded the company, together with its teammates Axiom Space, Inc., and Odyssey Space Research, a contract to advance the development of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) which will help Artemis astronauts explore more of the Moon’s surface on future missions. 

The Astrolab team is one of three teams to win contract awards. Astrolab’s contract is worth up to $1.9 billion. Collectively the three contract winners may be awarded task orders over the next 13 years with a total potential value of $4.6 billion. The contracts allow for two additional years for the completion of services.

“Astrolab is honored to have its FLEX rover selected by NASA to participate in the development of creating a Lunar Terrain Vehicle for the Artemis Campaign,” said Jaret Matthews, founder & CEO, Astrolab. “Our entire team, together with our business partners, are committed to delivering to NASA an LTV that serves as a critical tool in the agency’s efforts to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon.”

"We're excited to work with Astrolab and the entire team to revolutionize lunar operations," said Russell Ralston, Vice President of EVA, Axiom Space. "We look forward to offering our expertise in the design of vehicle interfaces for both the crew and spacesuits, ensuring astronaut safety and mobility on the surface of the Moon. This partnership showcases a collective commitment to pushing boundaries and driving advancements in space exploration."

Sierra Space Awarded Space Act Agreement with NASA

Sierra Space to work closely with NASA on key capabilities vital to unlocking the next generation of space travel.

Sierra Space, a leading, pure-play commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, today was awarded a Space Act Agreement (SAA) by NASA under the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC-2) initiative.

Through the agreement, Sierra Space will provide NASA with valuable insight and collaboration into its crewed Dream Chaser® spaceplane; new commercial space station architectures; and in-space logistics, refuelling and servicing systems. NASA will advance deployment of Sierra Space’s platform and ecosystem by providing access to facilities and support for environmental and crew systems testing, tools and software.

This SAA award by NASA provides support to a “pathfinder” space station, which serves as a technology demonstration for key elements of commercial space stations. Such demonstrations are vital steps to ultimately designing objects intended for sustained commercial habitation in orbit. The SAA is set to begin while the systems are in the design and development phases and last for five years – through on-orbit deployment later this decade.

NASA selects Blue Origin for manned mission to the moon

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded a NextSTEP-2 Appendix P Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) contract to Blue Origin. 

Blue Origin’s National Team partners include Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics.

Under this contract, Blue Origin and its National Team partners will develop and fly both a lunar lander that can make a precision landing anywhere on the Moon’s surface and a cislunar transporter. These vehicles are powered by LOX-LH2. The high-specific impulse of LOX-LH2 provides a dramatic advantage for high-energy deep space missions. Nevertheless, lower performing but more easily storable propellants (such as hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide as used on the Apollo lunar landers) have been favoured for these missions because of the problematic boil-off of LOX-LH2 during their long mission timelines. 

Through this contract, we will move the state of the art forward by making high-performance LOX-LH2 a storable propellant combination. Under SLD, we will develop and fly solar-powered 20-degree Kelvin cryocoolers and the other technologies required to prevent LOX-LH2 boil-off. Future missions beyond the Moon, and enabling capabilities such as high-performance nuclear thermal propulsion, will benefit greatly from storable LH2. Blue Origin’s architecture also prepares for that future day when lunar ice can be used to manufacture LOX and LH2 propellants on the Moon.

Blue Origin and its partners are already at work and are excited to be on this journey with NASA.

AeroVironment awarded $10 Million contract by NASA/JPL to co-design and develop two helicopters for Mars Sample return mission

AeroVironment, Inc. has been awarded a $10 million contract by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to co-design and co-develop conceptual designs and engineering development units of Mars Sample Recovery Helicopter flight systems. Future efforts could include detailed design, build, and test of qualification and flight hardware. The helicopters build upon the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter design heritage and feature upgraded robotics to supplement aerial mobility.

AeroVironment engineers from the MacCready Works team previously worked with NASA JPL to co-design and develop the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which has completed 52 successful flights to date on Mars and survived 781 sols on the surface, far outperforming its design objectives.

“Accomplishing the impossible has been AeroVironment’s mission for more than 50 years and we are excited to be working with the NASA JPL team again to conquer the next challenge,” said Scott Newbern, AeroVironment’s vice president and chief technology officer. “Ingenuity’s flights on Mars are a giant leap for robotic technology. Now we’re advancing this science further by helping to build helicopters that not only will continue flight on Mars, but also will include apparatus to collect samples to bring back to Earth for this historic mission.”

The two planned Sample Recovery Helicopters would be a secondary method of sample retrieval for the NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return Campaign. NASA’s Perseverance rover, which has already been collecting a diverse set of scientifically selected samples for potential safe return to Earth, is currently planned as the primary method of delivering samples to the Sample Retrieval Lander.

Reliable Robotics and NASA complete first-of-its-kind flight tests to advance aviation safety

One of the leaders in safety-enhancing aircraft automation systems - Reliable Robotics, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), have this week announced the completion of flight tests to substantiate the use of existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) primary surveillance radar (PSR) data to improve the safety of the National Airspace System (NAS). Reliable Robotics has been working with NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign since 2021 to advance the safe, secure and efficient integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems. Of note – the FAA granted NASA limited access to PSR data for these specific flights conducted by Reliable Robotics – a step towards utilizing existing radar infrastructure for Detect and Avoid (DAA) systems.

As part of the campaign, Reliable Robotics coordinated encounters of two of its aircraft in California while data was being collected by FAA ground-based radars as well as a commercial air-to-air radar. These flights will help NASA analyze and characterize the accuracy of surveillance radars, which will be used to develop a comprehensive safety case for DAA systems that utilize existing PSR data.

“We appreciate the close collaboration with the FAA and Reliable Robotics to collect meaningful data from flights to improve our collective understanding of using radar for DAA,” said Brad Snelling, Partner Chief Engineer for the AAM National Campaign at NASA. “These landmark flights will help the entire AAM industry further their understanding and future use of PSR data to enhance aviation safety.”

Making high quality PSR data available to pilots in the cockpit, along with certified alerting and guidance features, will significantly improve situational awareness and prevent mid-air collisions. Automatic Dependent-Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) technology will continue to play an important role in the safe integration of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in the NAS, but it requires that all aircraft install and operate equipment. Secure access to the FAA’s medium and long-range PSR network will expand these safety benefits and provide accurate position data on aircraft, even for those without ADS-B.

“We believe PSR data can save lives today,” said Robert Rose, Co-Founder and CEO of Reliable Robotics. “We are honoured to partner with NASA on a campaign focused on making the airspace safer for everyone.”

Orbital Reef Space Station Advances to Design Phase After NASA Review

The Orbital Reef team, led by partners Sierra Space and Blue Origin, has successfully completed its System Definition Review (SDR) with NASA.

The SDR is an important program milestone to establish the functional baseline for Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned and operated space station to be built in low-Earth orbit (LEO). It demonstrates to NASA that the space station design is feasible and achievable while validating that the Orbital Reef system is on-track to proceed into the design phase.

The Orbital Reef team, including Amazon Supply Chain, Amazon Web Services, Arizona State University, Boeing, Genesis Engineering Solutions and Redwire Space, is maturing the design of its space station in partnership with NASA under the agency’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development (CLDP) program. NASA awarded the agreement in December 2021 to shift NASA’s research and exploration activities in LEO to commercial space stations and help stimulate a growing space economy.

The SDR included an extensive review to ensure that the proposed Orbital Reef architecture is responsive to the functional and performance requirements; it examined the proposed system architecture and the flow-down to all functional elements of the Orbital Reef system. The successful SDR supported NASA’s decision to further develop the system architecture and design. Representatives from Blue Origin, Sierra Space, team members, and NASA participated in the review, conducted between mid-June and mid-July to allow in-depth review of documentation and feedback to the team.

“We are on the doorstep of the most profound industrial revolution in human history. An industrial revolution marked by the transition from the last 60 years of space exploration to a future where humanity extends our factories and cities into space. It isn’t solely about tourism - it is about unlocking the next great discoveries using the microgravity factories that we will build just 250 miles above the Earth’s surface,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “The microgravity factories and services provided by Orbital Reef have the potential to revolutionize every industry and become a major growth contributor to the U.S. and world economies.”

“This SDR moves Orbital Reef forward,” said Brent Sherwood, Senior Vice President of Advanced Development Programs at Blue Origin. “We are meeting the needs of both the commercial marketplace and NASA’s requirements. Orbital Reef will change the game for human space flight in Earth orbit.”

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus have agreed on service orders for two independent payload missions.

Photo NASA

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus have agreed on service orders for two independent payload missions to be launched to the Bartolomeo payload hosting facility on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

 

The first payload mission is ESA’s Exobiology Platform (EXPO). This facility carries a set of radiation experiments aimed at better understanding the evolution of organic molecules and organisms in the space. Placed in a Zenith-facing slot, the facility will connect two scientific modules to Bartolomeo. These modules will host everything needed for the experiments, including the scientific sample containers, fluidics systems and sensors related to the individual experiments called Exocube, IceCold and OREOcube. At the end of the three-year mission, the samples will be returned to Earth for detailed investigation and analysis.

 

The second payload is the Euro Material Ageing experiment platform (SESAME), developed by the French Space Agency (CNES). This mission will study the ageing behaviour of new materials in space and will also make use of Bartolomeo’s payload return option. After a year of exposure in space, the experiments will be returned to Earth, allowing scientists to thoroughly investigate the samples and fully understand the effects of the space environment on the materials.

 

Two Airbus H135 helicopters delivered to support space exploration at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre

Two Airbus H135 helicopters delivered to support space exploration at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. The aircraft will provide aerial security and support of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for late October.

 Airbus continues to expand its portfolio of products supporting the future of space exploration with the delivery of two new H135 helicopters to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from the Airbus Helicopters, Inc. production and completion facility in Columbus, Mississippi.

These aircraft, along with a third scheduled for delivery early next year, will be based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and operated for a variety of missions, including aerial security at rocket launches, emergency medical services, research, and qualified passenger transportation.

First voyage for spaceship Orion

The Orion spaceship took off on board a Super Guppy aircraft from the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, November 24: destination the world’s largest thermal vacuum chamber, owned by NASA. This is where the hot test phase of several months will begin for the spacecraft. The Super Guppy landed at Mansfield, Ohio. The transfer to Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, is scheduled for Tuesday, November 26th.

A team of engineers and technicians from Airbus, the European Space Agency (ESA), Lockheed Martin and NASA are ready to put the spacecraft through simulations of extreme space conditions.

"With the tests, we will show that the spacecraft's systems work as planned and at the same time ensure safe operation for the astronauts on future missions - both on the ground and on board," says Matthias Gronowski, Chief Engineer for the European Service Module that Airbus is building for NASA on behalf of  ESA.