posted 02-12-2019 11:27 AM               

NASA Seeks US Partners to Develop Reusable Systems to Land Astronauts on Moon

As the next major step to return astronauts to the Moon under Space Policy Directive-1, NASA announced plans on Dec. 13 to work with American companies to design and develop new reusable systems for astronauts to land on the lunar surface. The agency is planning to test new human-class landers on the Moon beginning in 2024, with the goal of sending crew to the surface in 2028.

Above: Artist's concept of a human landing system and its crew on the lunar surface with Earth near the horizon.

Through multi-phased lunar exploration partnerships, NASA is asking American companies to study the best approach to landing astronauts on the Moon and start the development as quickly as possible with current and future anticipated technologies.

"Building on our model in low-Earth orbit, we'll expand our partnerships with industry and other nations to explore the Moon and advance our missions to farther destinations such as Mars, with America leading the way," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "When we send astronauts to the surface of the Moon in the next decade, it will be in a sustainable fashion."

The agency's leading approach to sending humans to the Moon is using a system of three separate elements that will provide transfer, landing, and safe return. A key aspect of this proposed approach is to use the Gateway for roundtrip journeys to and from the surface of the Moon.

Using the Gateway to land astronauts on the Moon allows the first building blocks for fully reusable lunar landers. Initially NASA expects two of the lander elements to be reusable and refueled by cargo ships carrying fuel from Earth to the Gateway. The agency is also working on technologies to make rocket propellants using water ice and regolith from the Moon. Once the ability to harness resources from the Moon for propellant becomes viable, NASA plans to refuel these elements with the Moon's own resources. This process, known as in-situ resource utilization or ISRU, will make the third element also refuelable and reusable.

NASA published a formal request for proposals to an appendix of the second Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) on Feb. 7, and responses are due March 25.

According to the solicitation, NASA will fund industry-led development and flight demonstrations of lunar landers built for astronauts by supporting critical studies and risk reduction activities to advance technology requirements, tailor applicable standards, develop technology, and perform initial demonstrations by landing on the Moon.

When NASA again sends humans to the Moon, the surface will be buzzing with new research and robotic activity, and there will be more opportunities for discovery than ever before. Private sector innovation is key to these NASA missions, and the NextSTEP public-private partnership model is advancing capabilities for human spaceflight while stimulating commercial activities in space.

The President's direction from Space Policy Directive-1 galvanizes NASA's return to the Moon and builds on progress on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, efforts with commercial and international partners, and knowledge gained from current robotic presence at the Moon and Mars.

posted 02-12-2019 11:30 AM               

Companies may bid on one or all three elements of NASA's proposed landing system — a Transfer vehicle that will move astronauts to and from the Lunar Gateway to low-lunar orbit, a Descent vehicle that will carry humans down to the surface, and an Ascent vehicle that will carry the crew back to lunar orbit.

After this Phase A, NASA says it will select "zero, one, or two" awards for design and development and that such fixed-price contracts will be valued at "multiple hundreds of millions of dollars." Because the "Descent" element is expected to fly first, NASA says that such proposals "are expected to receive a majority of overall funding." Participating firms are expected to share costs with NASA, which means they are supposed to invest about 20 percent of their own funding into lander development.

posted 02-15-2019 09:07 AM               

Proposals for this broad agency announcement (BAA), part of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program, are due March 25. Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the agency hopes to make awards in May to allow the six-month studies to begin by July. After that, NASA could select some of those concepts for additional work, including hardware development.

The studies are intended to fit into NASA's existing reference architecture, which has focused on three-stage landing systems involving a tug, descent stage and ascent stage. Gerstenmaier said that NASA will wait to study an ascent vehicle to see if human rating requirements can be restricted to just that component of the overall system.

Gerstenmaier said there's some willingness to consider alternative architectures, although not within this specific announcement. "We're not totally closed if there are some proposals that come in that are different, that want to reflect a totally different architecture," he said. "They won't necessarily be part of this BAA study, but we'll take those off to the side."

"We'll go take that proposal that's outside, we'll figure out another instrument and a way to work with them to see what's there, and then trade that later against this architecture to see if it's better," he said later.

...the architecture that Gerstenmaier presented at the industry day still called for landing people on the moon by 2028.

posted 04-26-2019 07:54 PM               

In response to Vice President Mike Pence's recent announcement directing NASA to return humans to the surface of the Moon by 2024, NASA has assessed options for meeting this challenge by accelerating development of the Human Landing System. Accordingly, NASA intends to release a solicitation under the second Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) in late May, 2019, to seek proposals from industry for the development of integrated human lunar landers and execution of crewed flight demonstrations to the lunar surface by 2024.

The primary objective of this NextSTEP-2 Appendix H BAA (HLS - Integrated Lander), is to: enable the rapid development of individual lander elements such as a Descent Element, Ascent Element, and Transfer Vehicle; achieve the integration of these elements into a safe and functional human landing system that can meet NASA and industry requirements; and execute a crewed demonstration mission of that human landing system to the Moon. Contracts awarded under Appendix H may have multiple phases including but not limited to Design, Development, Test, and Evaluation of the applicable lander elements.

posted 05-16-2019 06:01 PM               

NASA Taps 11 American Companies to Advance Human Lunar Landers

NASA has selected 11 companies to conduct studies and produce prototypes of human landers for its Artemis lunar exploration program. This effort will help put American astronauts — the first woman and next man — on the Moon's south pole by 2024 and establish sustainable missions by 2028.

"To accelerate our return to the Moon, we are challenging our traditional ways of doing business. We will streamline everything from procurement to partnerships to hardware development and even operations," said Marshall Smith, director for human lunar exploration programs at NASA Headquarters. "Our team is excited to get back to the Moon quickly as possible, and our public/private partnerships to study human landing systems are an important step in that process."

Through Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Appendix E contracts, the selected companies will study and/or develop prototypes during the next six months that reduce schedule risk for the descent, transfer, and refueling elements of a potential human landing system.

NASA's proposed plan is to transport astronauts in a human landing system that includes a transfer element for the journey from the lunar Gateway to low-lunar orbit, a descent element to carry them to the surface, and an ascent element to return to them to the Gateway. The agency also is looking at refueling capabilities to make these systems reusable.

The total award amount for all companies is $45.5 million. As NextSTEP is a public/private partnership program, companies are required to contribute at least 20% of the total project cost. This partnership will reduce costs to taxpayers and encourage early private investments in the lunar economy.

The awardees, from eight states across the country, are:

• Aerojet Rocketdyne – Canoga Park, California
  One transfer vehicle study

• Blue Origin – Kent, Washington
  One descent element study, one transfer vehicle study, and one transfer vehicle prototype

• Boeing – Houston
  One descent element study, two descent element prototypes, one transfer vehicle study, one transfer vehicle prototype, one refueling element study, and one refueling element prototype

• Dynetics – Huntsville, Alabama
  One descent element study and five descent element prototypes

• Lockheed Martin – Littleton, Colorado
  One descent element study, four descent element prototypes, one transfer vehicle study, and one refueling element study

• Masten Space Systems – Mojave, California
  One descent element prototype

• Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems – Dulles, Virginia
  One descent element study, four descent element prototypes, one refueling element study, and one refueling element prototype

• OrbitBeyond – Edison, New Jersey
  Two refueling element prototypes

• Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colorado, and Madison, Wisconsin
  One descent element study, one descent element prototype, one transfer vehicle study, one transfer vehicle prototype, and one refueling element study

• SpaceX – Hawthorne, California
  One descent element study

• SSL – Palo Alto, California
  One refueling element study and one refueling element prototype

To expedite the work, NASA is invoking undefinitized contract actions, which allow the agency to authorize partners to start a portion of the work, while negotiations toward contract award continue in parallel.

"We're taking major steps to begin development as quickly as possible, including invoking a NextSTEP option that allows our partners to begin work while we're still negotiating," said Greg Chavers, human landing system formulation manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "We're keen to collect early industry feedback about our human landing system requirements, and the undefinitized contract action will help us do that."

NASA gave industry its first heads up in April, with the issuance of a pre-solicitation, of its intention to partner with American companies on the development of an integrated lander. The formal solicitation, to be issued this summer, will provide the requirements for a 2024 human landing, and leave it to U.S. industry to propose innovative concepts, hardware development and integration.

"This new approach doesn't prescribe a specific design or number of elements for the human landing system," Chavers said. "NASA needs the system to get our astronauts on the surface and return them home safely, and we're leaving a lot of the specifics to our commercial partners."

posted 07-23-2019 11:47 AM               

NASA intends to release a solicitation under the second Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) BAA to seek proposals from industry for the development of integrated human lunar landers and execution of crewed flight demonstrations to the lunar surface by 2024.

The primary objective of this NextSTEP-2 Appendix H BAA (HLS - Integrated Lander) is to enable the rapid development of a safe and functional human landing system (HLS) that can meet NASA and industry requirements and execute a crewed demonstration mission of HLS to the Moon no later than 2024. To achieve long-term lunar lander sustainability, this BAA also has a contract option that NASA may elect to exercise for the development and, in 2026, demonstration of a sustainable HLS Integrated Lander in order to enable more permanent human access to the lunar surface.

NASA anticipates that it will initially award multiple HLS contracts, followed by potential down-selection among these HLS contractors as work progresses through the exercise of options at various stages of the development effort.

posted 08-30-2019 01:18 PM               

NASA Seeks Input from U.S. Industry on Artemis Lander Development

Update August 30, 2019

NASA has issued a second draft of NextSTEP H, integrated human landing system. This updated draft reflects changes NASA has made to address industry feedback following the first draft that was issued in July. Draft 2 is available for download here.

Responses to draft 2 are due Sept. 6. NASA anticipates issuing the final solicitation this fall, with the intent to select providers this winter.

posted 09-30-2019 06:59 PM               

Fast-Track to the Moon: NASA Opens Call for Artemis Lunar Landers

NASA is seeking proposals for human lunar landing systems designed and developed by American companies for the Artemis program, which includes sending the first woman and next man to the surface of the Moon by 2024.

The final call to industry comes after NASA issued two drafts on July 19 and Aug. 30, encouraging companies to send comments to help shape a key component of the agency's human exploration Artemis partnerships. NASA is expected to make multiple awards to industry to develop and demonstrate a human landing system. The first company to complete its lander will carry astronauts to the surface in 2024, and the second company will land in 2025.

Proposals to build a landing system are due Nov. 1—an ambitious timeline consistent with the sequence of events leading to this point—however, companies have been preparing for, reviewing, and commenting on several drafts of NASA's broad agency announcement since mid-July and should be ready for this tight timeline.

"In order to best accelerate our return to the Moon and prepare for Mars, we collaborated with industry on ideas to streamline the procurement process," said Marshall Smith, director of the Human Lunar Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The private sector was eager to provide us feedback throughout this process, and we received more than 1,150 comments on the draft solicitations issued over the summer."

Typical spaceflight hardware can take six to eight years to develop. With less than five years to land astronauts on the Moon, every word and requirement counts.

After reviewing the comments, NASA removed requirements that industry perceived as potential barriers to speed while preserving all the agency's human safety measures. For example, industry stated that delivery of a high number of formal technical reports would require a company to spend considerable resources and incur undue schedule risk. Taking this into consideration, NASA has designed a less formal insight model that will be used for accessing critical contractor data while minimizing administrative overhead. As a result, NASA reduced the number of required contract deliverables from 116 to 37.

"Reports still are valuable and necessary, but to compromise and ease the bulk of the reporting burden on industry, we are asking for access to the companies' systems to monitor progress throughout development," said Nantel Suzuki, the Human Landing System program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "To maximize our chances of successfully returning to the Moon by 2024, we also are making NASA's engineering workforce available to contractors and asking proposers to submit a collaboration plan."

When called to accelerate its return to the Moon, NASA said it would meet this ambitious goal by "any means necessary." The agency's preferred approach to a lunar landing is for the crew in the Orion spacecraft and the uncrewed human landing system to launch separately and meet in lunar orbit at the Gateway, which is critical to long-term exploration of the Moon. NASA wants to explore all options to achieve the 2024 mission and remains open to alternative, innovative approaches.

Another shift centered around how to best achieve sustainability on the Moon by 2028. In addition to greater performance, such as global lunar surface access and higher payload mass capacity, NASA originally required the Human Landing System to be refuelable as a means to ensure a more sustainable exploration architecture. Multiple companies had concerns about this requirement, and NASA agreed to remove it so that industry has greater flexibility to address the more fundamental attribute of sustainability, which is long-term affordability.

"They were absolutely right," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, the Human Landing System program manager at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "We are operating on a timeline that requires us to be flexible to encourage innovation and alternate approaches. We still welcome the option to refuel the landing system, but we removed it as a requirement."

posted 04-30-2020 11:56 AM               

NASA awards contracts to build first moon landers since Apollo

NASA has awarded contracts for spacecraft capable of landing humans on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program 50 years ago.

The space agency on Thursday (April 30) announced it has selected SpaceX, Dynetics and Blue Origin's "National Team," which includes Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, to build human landing systems (HLS) in support of the Artemis program and its goal of returning the next man and first woman to the moon's surface by 2024.

posted 10-23-2020 01:22 AM               

NASA, Human Lunar Lander Companies Complete Key Artemis Milestone

NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) Program recently checked off a key milestone in its progress toward landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The HLS Program conducted Certification Baseline Reviews (CBR) with the three U.S. companies competing to provide landers that will deliver Artemis astronauts to the Moon. These virtual meetings were the culmination of critical work by NASA and the companies since NASA announced the base period selections in April.

Since then, NASA has worked closely with the Blue Origin-led team, Dynetics, and SpaceX to better understand their human landing system proposals and approach for the agency's Artemis program. The primary purpose of the CBRs was to finalize the functional and performance requirements for the companies' landing system designs, confirm the standards to be applied to lander development, establish the baseline designs, schedules, and management plans for HLS contract execution and human spaceflight certification. Dr. Lisa Watson-Morgan, the HLS program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, chaired the CBR board that approved the certification baseline for each contractor.

Seeking to leverage NASA's human spaceflight experience and the commercial sector's speed and innovation, the agency specified a concept of operations and high-level requirements and standards but did not dictate approach or design, allowing the contractors to propose their own designs. This was a departure from NASA's traditional procurement approach of providing contractors with highly detailed specifications for building spacecraft hardware.

"We wanted to be as open as possible in our procurement approach, to accelerate the process and to encourage innovation," said Watson-Morgan. "It worked. Within one year, we were able to select three very different design solutions to accomplish the bold and challenging objective of sending astronauts to the lunar South Pole."

During the CBR meetings, NASA examined how each contractor has been proceeding with the design of their landing system, and NASA and the contractors confirmed the results of an intensive adjudication process that established design, construction, safety, and health and medical standards for each proposed landing system. Companies also provided development and testing schedules, identified top risks, and provided plans for safety and mission assurance, verification, validation, and certification.

The CBR is part of the base period for the three contracts. Running from May 2020 to February 2021, the base period is about mid-way through—the ideal time to conduct the CBR in the fast-paced development process, according to Watson-Morgan. "With firm-fixed price contracts it is important to come to an agreement up front about how each contractor will proceed," she noted. "While NASA wants to be as flexible as possible to achieve success, late changes can be costly and add to schedule risk."

Next Steps to Land Artemis Astronauts on the Moon

Concurrent with the base period, NASA is running an active federal procurement for the next phase of HLS development, Option A, which will determine which design(s) will be selected to continue development to flight. The three HLS base period contractors, having passed CBR, are the only eligible offerors for Option A.

After receiving Option A proposals in late 2020, NASA plans to select up to two HLS Option A contracts near the end of the base period, providing a seamless transition to the next phase of HLS development that ultimately culminates in crewed demonstration missions to the lunar surface beginning with the Artemis III mission in 2024.

Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024 and establish sustainable lunar surface exploration with our commercial and international partners by 2028. Artemis is the next step in human exploration and is a part of NASA's broader Moon to Mars strategy. Specifically, NASA's lunar operations will provide the agency with the experience and knowledge necessary to enable a historic human mission to Mars.

posted 01-31-2021 11:49 AM               

On Jan. 27, NASA notified its Human Landing System (HLS) contractors that a no-cost extension to each of their base period contracts will be required. The current 10-month base period contracts were set to conclude Feb. 28, 2021, and the agency plans to execute contract modifications to extend that period of performance through April 30, 2021.

The timing of this extension is designed to allow NASA to complete the Option A evaluation, selection and award process and to preserve the ability to seamlessly transition from the base period contracts to the Option A contracts. However, NASA may not need the full extension period to complete those activities, in which case the agency will execute Option A awards and transition to Option A performance as soon as the source selection has concluded.

This extension is an administrative change and allows the three selected U.S. companies to continue HLS design and development activities as set forth in the firms' base period contracts, awarded in May 2020.

Developing the human landing system (HLS) is a key component of successfully executing crewed demonstration missions to the lunar surface under the Artemis program. NASA is committed to establishing a sustained lunar presence, and this procurement action is consistent with the agency's strategy to uphold that commitment. HLS awards under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Broad Agency Announcement are firm-fixed price, milestone-based contracts.

posted 04-16-2021 03:33 PM               

As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX Human Lunar Lander

NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.

The agency's powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit. There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip back to orbit where they will return to Orion and their colleagues before heading back to Earth.

The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.

"With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women's equality and long-term deep space exploration," said Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate. "This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars."

SpaceX has been working closely with NASA experts during the HLS base period of performance to inform its lander design and ensure it meets NASA's performance requirements and human spaceflight standards. A key tenet for safe systems, these agreed-upon standards range from areas of engineering, safety, health, and medical technical areas.

"This is an exciting time for NASA and especially the Artemis team," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for HLS at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "During the Apollo program, we proved that it is possible to do the seemingly impossible: land humans on the Moon. By taking a collaborative approach in working with industry while leveraging NASA's proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return American astronauts to the Moon's surface once again, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time."

SpaceX's HLS Starship, designed to land on the Moon, leans on the company's tested Raptor engines and flight heritage of the Falcon and Dragon vehicles. Starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for astronaut moonwalks. The Starship architecture is intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations.

The HLS award is made under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).

In parallel with executing the Appendix H award, NASA intends to implement a competitive procurement for sustainable crewed lunar surface transportation services that will provide human access to the lunar surface using the Gateway on a regularly recurring basis beyond the initial crewed demonstration mission.

With NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, HLS, and the Gateway lunar outpost, NASA and its commercial and international partners are returning to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation. Working with its partners throughout the Artemis program, the agency will fine-tune precision landing technologies and develop new mobility capabilities to enable exploration of new regions of the Moon. On the surface, the agency has proposed building a new habitat and rovers, testing new power systems and more. These and other innovations and advancements made under the Artemis program will ensure that NASA and its partners are ready for human exploration's next big step—the exploration of Mars.

posted 09-14-2021 04:06 PM               

NASA Selects Five U.S. Companies to Mature Artemis Lander Concepts

NASA has selected five U.S. companies to help the agency enable a steady pace of crewed trips to the lunar surface under the agency's Artemis program. These companies will make advancements toward sustainable human landing system concepts, conduct risk-reduction activities, and provide feedback on NASA's requirements to cultivate industry capabilities for crewed lunar landing missions.

The awards under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix N broad agency announcement are firm fixed-price, milestone-based contracts. The total combined value for the awards is $146 million, and the work will be conducted over the next 15 months. The companies that received awards and their award values are:

• Blue Origin Federation of Kent, Washington, $25.6 million.
  
• Dynetics (a Leidos company) of Huntsville, Alabama, $40.8 million.
  
• Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado, $35.2 million.
  
• Northrop Grumman of Dulles, Virginia, $34.8 million.
  
• SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, $9.4 million.

"Establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon through recurring services using lunar landers is a major Artemis goal," said Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at Headquarters in Washington. "This critical step lays the foundation for U.S. leadership in learning more about the Moon and for learning how to live and work in deep space for future missions farther into the solar system."

The selected companies will develop lander design concepts, evaluating their performance, design, construction standards, mission assurance requirements, interfaces, safety, crew health accommodations, and medical capabilities. The companies will also mitigate lunar lander risks by conducting critical component tests and advancing the maturity of key technologies.

The work from these companies will ultimately help shape the strategy and requirements for a future NASA's solicitation to provide regular astronaut transportation from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon.

"Collaboration with our partners is critical to achieving NASA's long-term Artemis lunar exploration goals," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, Human Landing System Program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "By partnering with innovative U.S. companies, we will establish a robust lunar economy while exploring new areas of the Moon for generations to come."

This opportunity is distinct from the initial crewed lunar landing demonstration mission awarded under the NextSTEP-2 Appendix H procurement, which will serve as the proof of concept for the Artemis architecture.

NASA's goals under Artemis include enabling a safe and cost-efficient long-term approach to accessing the lunar surface and becoming one of multiple customers purchasing services in a lunar transportation market. Much of what the agency develops for the Moon will be applied to future exploration at Mars.

NASA's Artemis missions include landing the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, sending a suite of new science instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon, and establishing a long-term presence there.