Manyย makers dream of buildingย their own spacecraft toย explore the cosmos.ย NASA isย gearing up toย helpย makers fulfill these dreams by first asking the community the fundamentals: What are the best incentives for makers to build, fly, and communicate with small satellites in deep space?
This isn’t the first time private citizens have been offered aย chance to competeย this far from home. Since 2007,ย the Google Lunar X-Prize has inspired contestantsย toย try landingย theย first private rover on the moon. However, early criticisms that the GLXP isย too much of a technical challenge to be winnableย mayย be ringing trueย in light of theย diminishing number of participants.ย Not surprisingย given thatย the well-funded, Chinese government-backed “Yutu”ย rover experiencedย difficulties shortly after its firstย harsh lunar night.
However, NASA’s approach to engage makers seems to be more pragmatic in that it separately tackles two of the biggest problems with deep space exploration: communications and propulsion systems.ย According toย the Agency’sย recentlyย releasedย “Request for Information:”
NASA is considering initiating two challenges to incentivize development of deep space science and exploration capabilities for small spacecraft, including CubeSats, with the intention of broadening the national capability to support future exploration architectures.
The first challenge will focus on finding innovative solutions to deep space communications with small spacecraft, while the second focuses on primary propulsion for small spacecraft. Together, these challenges are expected to contribute to opening deep space exploration to non-government spacecraft for the first time.
Some of the proposed prizes wouldย include monetary awards forย demonstrating the following milestones for long-range communications systems:
- Communication Subsystem – Ground Demonstration and Selection for Launch
- Largest Amount of Data Transmitted from Distance of Lunar Orbit
- Last CubeSat Standing (Farthest CubeSat Transmission to Earth)
and for propulsion systems:
- Propulsion Subsystem Ground Demonstration and Selection for Launch
- First CubeSat to Achieve Lunar Orbit
Initial timeframes for these challenges start with an anticipated draft release of rules in late April, with possible review of competitors’ย submissions byย the end of 2014. CubeSatย launches could be scheduled as early as theย December 2017 as secondary payloads aboard NASA’s Orion and Space Launch Systemย vehicles.
Although the official comment period has ended, program managerย Dr. Larry Cooper is still very interested in hearing from you. Read the details in the RFI atย http://go.usa.gov/BBSjย and send Dr. Cooper an email atย HQ-STMD-CentennialChallenges@mail.nasa.gov; use Deep Space Spacecraft Challenges on the Subject line.
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