WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded contracts to three companies to study concepts for a lunar mission to search for water ice in very low orbits.
DARPA announced last year the Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) program. LASSO would demonstrate the ability to operate in a very low orbit around the moon while searching for locations on the moon that contain water ice at concentrations greater than 5%.
The mission, the agency stated, would test “sustained and advanced maneuverability” needed to maintain that low orbit, with applications elsewhere in cislunar space. The scientific data from the mission would support both NASA and commercial efforts to use lunar resources.
DARPA sought proposals for a six-month Phase 1A concept design study followed by an 18-month Phase 1B to advance those designs through a critical design review. A Phase 2 would follow to build the spacecraft.
While there had been no formal announcements of awards, a DARPA spokesperson said April 30 that the agency selected three companies for Phase 1: Benchmark Space Systems, Quantum Space and Revolution Space.
Two of the companies had previously disclosed they had won LASSO awards. Benchmark Space announced April 20 that it had been selected for a Phase 1A/1B study.
Benchmark said it offered DARPA a mission architecture called Sapphire, which includes both chemical and electric propulsion, along with a terrain navigation and hazard avoidance system. The company, best known as a propulsion supplier, said this award is part of its efforts to move up the value chain to integrated spacecraft development.
“This award marks an important step in advancing a credible path toward sustained operations in very low lunar orbit, one of the hardest challenges in spaceflight,” Ryan McDevitt, chief technology officer of Benchmark Space Systems, said in a statement. “We will rigorously evaluate how hybrid propulsion, autonomy and spacecraft design can converge to meet DARPA’s expectations.”
Quantum Space announced April 22 it won a DARPA LASSO award. The company did not disclose details about its design, but it has been developing Ranger, a highly maneuverable spacecraft. The company acquired last year the propulsion assets of Phase Four, a company developing hybrid chemical-electric thrusters.
“This award reflects the growing importance of the cislunar domain to U.S. national security,” Kerry Wisnosky, president and chief executive of Quantum Space, said in a statement.
Revolution Space, the third awardee, has not disclosed details about its participation in LASSO.