NASA courts commercial options for Lunar Landers
As NASA refocuses - once again - on returning to the Lunar surface, the agency has published a Request For Information (RFI) that will be used to gauge interest from the private/commercial space sector in building domestic lunar landers.
From article, (As NASA refocuses – once again – on returning to the Lunar surface, the agency has published a Request For Information (RFI) that will be used to gauge interest from the private/commercial space sector in building domestic lunar landers. The request points to an evolution of concept, with small-scale cargo landers being used to prove the technology before feeding into the development of human-rated vehicles.
The request outlines NASA’s aim to better determine the state-of-art and maturity of lander capability in the private sector and mature its own requirements for a human-class lander.
“NASA is seeking information under this RFI to assess commercial interest in development of domestic lunar lander capabilities that would evolve to meeting the identified performance towards human-class landers. These progressively larger lander capabilities are complementary to NASA’s new Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) effort to award contracts to provide capabilities as soon as 2019.”
CLPS will also support the delivery of small rovers and instruments to meet lunar science and exploration needs. NASA plans to release a Request for Proposals for CLPS in mid-2018 that is expected to fund payload opportunities on near-term commercial lunar landing opportunities.
The phased approach will result in a series of increasingly complex and capable lunar missions to the surface of the Moon, starting first with robotic missions. NASA added the initiative will be undertaken in coordination with scientific lunar exploration and will run in parallel to the development and flight of the SLS, Orion, and the elements of the Lunar Orbital Platform – Gateway.)
For More Info
No comments:
Post a Comment