Lockheed Martin and SSTL have been picked to develop concepts for a lander and a communications satellite in what would be the first ever private mission to Mars.
Non-profit group Mars One aims to use the spacecraft for an unmanned supply mission in…
Lockheed Martin and SSTL have been picked to develop concepts for a lander and a communications satellite in what would be the first ever private mission to Mars.
Non-profit group Mars One aims to use the spacecraft for an unmanned supply mission in 2018, the precursor to a US$6bn plan to ship four people there in 2022.
However, the foundation’s funding plans remain unclear, with the group looking to sponsorships, crowd funding and a reality TV show to cover the upfront costs, as well as the estimated US$4bn it believes is needed for each subsequent trip of four people to the planet every two years.
It has launched an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign with a goal of raising US$400,000, offering perks starting at US$10.
US-based Lockheed Martin’s lander study will be based on the Phoenix spacecraft it built for NASA’s 2007 Mars mission. It will evaluate costs and schedule estimates, and also look into providing proof of concept for some of the technologies needed for permanent human settlement.
The UK’s SSTL will meanwhile draw up plans for a satellite to orbit Mars and relay communications under an interplanetary system.
SSTL business development manager Phil Davies told SatelliteFinance that construction would need to begin before the end of 2014 to achieve a January 2018 launch, although money has yet to change hands because its study is in very early stages.
Davies said a projected cost of the satellite will be made available to Mars One in the first half of 2014. He added that, as well as the need to finance the lander, a launch vehicle and some ground systems and operations costs, the group would likely seek to insure the hardware and launch because it is a commercial venture.
Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of SSTL, said: “SSTL believes that the commercialisation of space exploration is vital in order to bring down costs and schedules and fuel progress. This study gives us an unprecedented opportunity to take our tried and tested approach and apply it Mars One’s imaginative and exhilarating challenge of sending humans to Mars through private investment.”
