Lockheed Martin [LMT] on March 12 unveiled its offering for NASA’s second Cargo Resupply Services (CRS-2) program, which could be worth as much as $14 billion.
The technologies behind the company’s proposal contain three major elements: a reusable space servicing vehicle called Jupiter; a large, versatile cargo container named the Exoliner; and a robotic arm. The company said its approach to CRS-2 offers NASA extensive cargo capacity, the opportunity to host commercial payloads and also builds a foundation for future deep space exploration systems.
The Jupiter spacecraft builds upon the design of Maven, which is now in orbit around Mars, and OSIRIS-Rex, currently under construction for an asteroid sample return mission. The Exoliner container is based upon teammate Thales Alenia Space’s cargo carrier used on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The robotic arm, built by Canadian teammate MDA, draws from technology used on the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle program.
According to the request for proposals (RFP) issued in September, the guaranteed minimum value for any awarded contract is six missions and the total maximum value of any awarded contract is $14 billion. Proposals were due Dec. 2 and NASA anticipates a contract award in June. According to the draft RFP, though the first CRS-2 mission does not have to be launched in 2017, ISS does have a requirement for CRS missions in 2017 that must be satisfied. Thus, an offeror that is able to provide services to meet the program requirements beginning in 2017 would be more advantageous to NASA.
CRS-2 rival Boeing [BA] will offer a modified version of its CST-100 space capsule that it uses for current CRS missions. Boeing spokeswoman Kelly Kaplan said in a recent email the company’s CRS-2 offer will be a simplified version of what will be the human-rated CST-100 as CRS missions don’t require systems to support human life. The configuration of the interior, she said, will be modified to accommodate a maximum cargo capacity.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is also participating in the CRS mission, but company spokesman John Taylor in a recent email declined to comment, saying the company does not comment on its plans to bid, or not bid, on government contracts ahead of their award.