Redwire has been awarded a study contract for Design Reference Mission (DRM) 3 of NASA’s Mars Commercial Services program, which outlines a commercial imagery mission to support lower-cost, higher-frequency missions to the Red Planet. While currently in a study phase, the program will eventually expand into service contracts for products from operational assets. This commercial model has already been successfully deployed through the CLPS program and has the potential to result in dramatically lower cost of access to Mars.
“Commercial access to Mars is a necessary step in humanity’s expansion into space as industry solutions dramatically lower the cost of missions, setting the stage for more frequent robotic access and eventual human presence,” said Kari Abromitis, Redwire Senior Project Engineer. “Redwire is thrilled that NASA is taking this commercial approach to exploration, as they did with the CLPS program, in order to empower US industry leadership in deep space. Redwire’s eventual imagery of the Red Planet will result in better science and mission planning, as well as awe-inspiring views of our solar system.”
In the commercial services concept being developed by Redwire, Redwire will own the mission’s spacecraft and sell imagery data products to NASA and other government or commercial entities to help foster a Mars economy. Once deployed, Redwire’s spacecraft will immediately bring value to customers and help drive the expansion of Mars surface activities. Redwire’s high resolution imagery can be used to support observational science investigations, landing site selection and hazard assessment, change detection, and monitoring and planning for surface assets.
The imaging payload will be integrated with Redwire’s heritage P200 spacecraft, which has accumulated more than 40 years in orbit without failure and has already won various contracts with ESA including the Proba multi-payload in-orbit demonstrations and the ALTIUS mission. The spacecraft will be brought to Mars via a commercial orbital transport vehicle (OTV). Redwire plans to extend our existing partnership with Blue Origin to investigate the extensibility of their Blue Ring platform as an OTV. Blue Ring is intended to serve commercial and government customers with in-space logistics and delivery for missions in medium Earth orbit out to the cislunar region and beyond, with over a 3,000 kg payload capacity.
Redwire is leveraging existing technology to deliver value to the program. The imaging payload utilizes the existing Redwire Argus platform, which has flight heritage and is slated for multiple upcoming missions including Blue Origin’s Blue Ring platform. Redwire has significant deep space heritage, with experience ranging from providing the vision and navigation systems for Orion for Artemis I-V to decades of successful sun sensors and star trackers on missions such as Mars Surveyor, MRO, Mars Pathfinder, and Europa Clipper.
This award adds to a growing portfolio of lunar and deep space infrastructure projects for the company, which leverage Redwire’s extensive experience in mission design, RF systems, power systems, vision systems, space structures, and in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing. In December, Redwire was selected for the DARPA LunA-10 study to investigate future lunar commercial infrastructure.
Read more about Redwire’s involvent in LunA-10 and other lunar infrastructure activities here.
