Description
NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) invites your organization to participate in an Industry Day event to learn about MEP’s interest in developing public/private partnerships in support of future Mars exploration and to share your organization’s potential interest and capabilities supporting any such endeavors. For each of these potential areas detailed below, the underlying motivation would be to leverage emerging capabilities in the US commercial aerospace market to address key cross-cutting MEP service needs, enabling a lower-cost, higher-cadence program of future Mars exploration and advancing US competitiveness in the space sector. MEP views this as a critical component for the development of a “comprehensive architecture of missions, partnerships, and technology development to enable continued scientific discovery at Mars” as recommended in National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2022) Origins, Worlds, and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032. NASA/MEP plans to hold this Industry Day event on October 18-19, 2022, delivered in a hybrid meeting format: in person near Pasadena, California and virtually through web-conferencing services). This event will provide interested parties with an overview of MEP’s future plans and interest in commercial services in a plenary session the morning of October 18, 2022, followed by opportunities for scheduled, approximately 30-minute, bilateral (MEP and commercial organization) follow-up meetings to discuss areas of mutual interest, relevant capabilities, and thoughts on viable business models. To support event planning, a notification of interest for participation in this Industry Day should be submitted by September 19, 2022, at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mars-exploration-program-industry-day-tickets-408869087447 for both in-person and virtual participation and indicate interest in scheduling a bilateral session. Respondents will receive further information on event details (agenda, logistics, etc.). Specific candidate areas for which MEP would like to understand potential commercial interest and capabilities in support of future Mars missions, include: 1. Spacecraft Delivery Services : A commercially provided carrier spacecraft with standardized interfaces that could transit to Mars, carrying one or more small MEP-provided spacecraft for release into Mars science orbits and/or Mars entry trajectories. By delivering the MEP spacecraft to their final orbits/trajectories, the propulsion requirements on each MEP spacecraft would be greatly relaxed, reducing the mass, volume, and cost of each spacecraft. Additional instances of the standardized carrier spacecraft could be flown on successive Mars launch opportunities, with varying spacecraft manifests (potentially including non-MEP customers), to provide flexible, low-cost access for multiple small spacecraft to Mars. In return for a delivery service fee, the commercial provider(s) would be responsible for the design, build, launch, and operations of the carrier spacecraft, the accommodation of the MEP-provided spacecraft, and the delivery of the MEP spacecraft to their science orbits. 2. Payload Hosting Services : One or more MEP-provided science instruments would be accommodated on a commercially provided host spacecraft; the commercial provider would deliver the instruments to a specified science orbit or surface location, conduct instrument observations based on direction from the MEP-funded instrument science team, and deliver instrument observation data to the science team. The commercial provider would be responsible for the design, build, launch, and operations of the host spacecraft, and would receive a fee for delivery of the MEP-provided payload to Mars and recurring fees for ongoing science operations. 3. Mars Relay Telecommunications & Position/Navigation/Timing (PNT) Services : MEP seeks to build upon the existing Mars Relay Network (MRN), which uses relay payloads on Mars science orbiters to relay data between Mars landers/rovers and Earth. The current MRN utilizes low-gain UHF proximity links to communicate with Mars surface assets, and has successfully increased data return from mass- and energy-constrained landers/rovers. However, the current MRN orbiters are all operating beyond their original primary mission lifetimes, so replenishment would be a priority. In addition, MEP would like to introduce higher-performance directional proximity links at shorter wavelengths to expand relay data volumes by orders of magnitude and to extend support beyond surface assets to orbital assets as well. That capability would enable future low-cost orbiters to focus on instrument accommodation while achieving high data return without the need for large and costly direct-to-Earth communication systems onboard. The commercial provider(s) would be responsible for the design, build, launch, and operations of one or more relay orbiters, and would deliver relay services to MEP user spacecraft on a fee-for-service basis. While priority would be on telecommunication relay services, MEP is also interested in potential PNT services that could be derived from tracking observables collected on the proximity relay links. 4. Mars Imaging and Global Meteorological Services : MEP currently relies heavily on the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005, for high-resolution (~30 cm per pixel) imaging of the Martian surface to provide orbital reconnaissance of potential future landing sites (including assessment of landing hazards such as rocks, slopes, and dune fields), support surface operations (e.g., via long-range traverse planning), and monitor long-term changes on Mars. In addition, lower-resolution global imaging and other meteorological instrumentation provides an important mechanism to monitor Martian weather phenomena, including local and global dust storms that pose risks to solar-powered surface missions. Such imaging capabilities provide context and continuity for scientific investigations pursued by all Mars missions and allow us to understand Mars as a dynamic system over time. MEP would like to understand the potential for commercially provided Mars imaging and global meteorological services to replenish (and potentially improve the design and performance of) Mars capabilities in support of NASA/MEP needs. Leveraging emerging Earth-based commercial imaging and meteorological services models, the Mars commercial imaging provider(s) would be responsible for the design, build, launch and operations of one or more orbital platforms and on-board imaging payloads. The commercial provider would deliver image data on a fee-for-service basis based on observations of MEP-specified surface targets. MEP is also interested in potential approaches that could simultaneously address more than one of these service areas. As an example, a commercial carrier spacecraft might deliver one or more MEP (and potentially other customer) spacecraft to Mars orbit, and then continue operation as a Mars telecommunication and PNT service provider or as an imaging service provider. Thank you for your interest. We look forward to discussing this exciting potential opportunity. DATE: 18-19 October 2022 from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, PDT INSTRUCTIONS TO PARTICIPANTS: In order to prepare a list of both in-person and virtual participants and to plan private bilateral Mars Exploration Program/Industry Day bilateral meetings, registration is due at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mars-exploration-program-industry-day-tickets-408869087447 no later than (NLT) September 19, 2022, at 5:00 pm, EDT. Please identify an industry representative and any other expected attendees when registering. Please plan to have a maximum of 3 in-person representatives from your company to accommodate the constraints of the venue; additional participants may join the sessions remotely.