NASA Looks To Advance Mars Sample Return Mission with Commercial Studies

NASA is advancing its plans for a Mars Sample Return Program, by announcing 10 commercial companies submitted bids to study more affordable and faster ways to bring samples from Mars back to Earth. These studies, part of the agency's ongoing efforts to revolutionize planetary exploration, are designed to identify innovative approaches that minimize cost and risk while expediting the mission's timeline.

The initiative will see NASA award firm-fixed-price contracts totaling up to $1.5 million to seven industry proposers.

Each proposer will conduct a 90-day study aimed at exploring new concepts and technologies that could enhance the Mars Sample Return mission. The selected companies will work alongside NASA centers, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, and Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory to produce their studies.

Once these studies are completed, NASA will evaluate the findings to consider potential alterations or improvements to the current Mars Sample Return architecture.

“Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has undertaken, and it is critical that we carry it out more quickly, with less risk, and at a lower cost...I’m excited to see the vision that these companies, centers, and partners present as we look for fresh, exciting, and innovative ideas to uncover great cosmic secrets from the Red Planet.” - NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “

Over the past 25 years, NASA has been systematically working to understand the early history of Mars, a key aspect of which is the Mars Sample Return mission. This mission, a long-term goal of international planetary exploration for the last two decades, aims to enhance our knowledge of the formation and evolution of habitable worlds, including Earth.

Since its landing on Mars in 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been diligently collecting samples for eventual return to Earth.

The companies and proposals selected from the April 15 request for proposals are:

• Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colorado: “Lockheed Martin Rapid Mission Design Studies for Mars Sample Return”

• SpaceX, Hawthorne, California: “Enabling Mars Sample Return With Starship”

• Aerojet Rocketdyne, Huntsville, Alabama: “A High-Performance Liquid Mars Ascent Vehicle, Using Highly Reliable and Mature Propulsion Technologies, to Improve Program Affordability and Schedule”

• Blue Origin, Monrovia, California: “Leveraging Artemis for Mars Sample Return”

• Quantum Space, Rockville, Maryland: “Quantum Anchor Leg Mars Sample Return Study”

• Northrop Grumman, Elkton, Maryland: “High TRL MAV Propulsion Trades and Concept Design for MSR Rapid Mission Design”

• Whittinghill Aerospace, Camarillo, California: “A Rapid Design Study for the MSR Single Stage Mars Ascent Vehicle”

The Mars Sample Return mission represents a strategic partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The endeavor to return scientifically selected samples to Earth for detailed study using advanced instruments worldwide has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of Mars. It addresses one of the highest priority goals for solar system exploration, as identified by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

As these studies progress, NASA anticipates groundbreaking concepts and technologies that will make the dream of a Mars Sample Return a reality, bringing humanity one step closer to unlocking the secrets of our neighboring planet.