NASA Selects Six Companies for Multi-Orbit Spacecraft Delivery Study

NASA has awarded contracts to six U.S. space companies to study innovative, lower-cost ways of delivering spacecraft of varying sizes and configurations to multiple, hard-to-reach orbits.

The nine firm-fixed-price study contracts, valued at up to $1.4 million combined, aim to explore next-generation orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and upper stages capable of transporting multiple payloads to orbits that traditional launch services struggle to reach.

The selected companies are:

• Arrow Science and Technology LLC – Webster, Texas

• Blue Origin LLC – Merritt Island, Florida

• Firefly Aerospace Inc. – Cedar Park, Texas

• Impulse Space Inc. – Redondo Beach, California

• Rocket Lab – Long Beach, California

• United Launch Services LLC (United Launch Alliance) – Centennial, Colorado

Expanding NASA’s Delivery Options

“With the increasing maturity of commercial space delivery capabilities, we're asking companies to demonstrate how they can meet NASA’s need for multi-spacecraft and multi-orbit delivery to difficult-to-reach orbits beyond current launch service offerings...This will increase unique science capability and lower the agency’s overall mission costs” - Joe Dant, Orbital Transfer Vehicle Strategic Initiative Owner for NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center.

The studies, to be completed by mid-September, will inform NASA’s future mission design, planning, and commercial launch acquisition strategies. Findings could pave the way for expanding delivery services to larger payloads and more risk-sensitive missions.

Company Study Overviews

Arrow Science and Technology
Arrow will partner with Quantum Space to evaluate Quantum’s Ranger vehicle—a multi-mission spacecraft designed for high maneuverability and rapid adaptability. Ranger is capable of delivering payloads to multiple destinations, from low Earth orbit (LEO) to lunar orbit.

Blue Origin
Blue Origin will conduct two separate studies:

• Blue Ring: A large, high-mobility platform with hybrid solar-electric and chemical propulsion. It offers full-service payload delivery, onboard edge computing, hosting, and complete mission operations. Capable destinations include geostationary orbit, cislunar space, Mars, and beyond.

• New Glenn Upper Stage: A study examining the potential of using New Glenn’s powerful upper stage for direct payload delivery to complex orbits.

Firefly Aerospace
Firefly will analyze its Elytra family of orbital vehicles, which provide on-demand payload delivery, imaging, long-range communications, and space domain awareness. Elytra Dark—a variant equipped for extended lunar operations—can function as a transfer vehicle in cislunar space for over five years.

Impulse Space
Impulse Space will produce two studies centered on its mobility platforms:

• Mira: A high-thrust, highly maneuverable craft for payload hosting and deployment.

• Helios: A high-energy kick stage capable of delivering payloads from LEO to medium Earth orbit (MEO), geostationary orbit (GEO), and interplanetary destinations.

Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab will focus on two designs:

• Neutron Upper Stage: Adapted for precise multi-orbit payload deployment.

• Explorer OTV: A long-life transfer vehicle with independent propulsion and subsystems, suitable for MEO, GEO, lunar, Mars, and near-Earth asteroid missions.

United Launch Alliance
ULA will assess the cislunar capabilities of an extended-duration Centaur V upper stage. The upgraded Centaur could directly deliver multiple rideshare spacecraft to two distinct cislunar orbits, eliminating the need for additional stages or separate OTVs.

NASA’s VADR Program

The studies were selected under NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare Launch Services (VADR) contract. VADR is designed to grow the U.S. commercial launch industry and enable greater, more affordable access to space for NASA’s science and technology missions.

While the current studies focus on risk-tolerant payloads, NASA notes that demonstrated capabilities could eventually be expanded to include higher-value and less risk-tolerant missions.