NASA has awarded nine companies a combined $24 million USD including MDA Space’s Houston office. The awards are from the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Appendix R program (NextSTEP-2 R).
MDA Space’s Artemis study will focus on surface cargo and mobility. An area they’ve been working for several years now. The NextSTEP-2 R program is designed to develop technologies for long-term lunar exploration.
Nujoud Merancy, deputy associate administrator, Strategy and Architecture Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington said, “These contract awards are the catalyst for developing critical capabilities for the Artemis missions and the everyday needs of astronauts for long-term exploration on the lunar surface. The strong response to our request for proposals is a testament to the interest in human exploration and the growing deep-space economy. This is an important step to a sustainable return to the Moon that, along with our commercial partners, will lead to innovation and expand our knowledge for future lunar missions, looking toward Mars.”
NASA added that the companies selected proposed “innovative strategies and concepts for logistics and mobility solutions” and “advanced robotics and autonomous capabilities.”
The other companies selected include;
- Blue Origin, Merritt Island, Florida – logistical carriers; logistics handling and offloading; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; surface cargo and mobility; and integrated strategies
- Intuitive Machines, Houston, Texas – logistics handling and offloading; and surface cargo and mobility
- Leidos, Reston, Virginia – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; and integrated strategies
- Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colorado – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; and surface cargo and mobility
- Moonprint, Dover, Delaware – logistical carriers
- Pratt Miller Defense, New Hudson, Michigan – surface cargo and mobility
- Sierra Space, Louisville, Colorado – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; and integrated strategies
- Special Aerospace Services, Huntsville, Alabama – logistical carriers; logistics handling and offloading; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; surface cargo and mobility; and integrated strategies