Lunar lander deal struck
Posted: Thursday, October 30, 2008 1:52 PM by Alan Boyle
NASA / Odyssey Moon Ventures |
Odyssey Moon Ventures can draw upon data from
NASA's Hover Test Vehicle prototype, shown here.
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NASA and Odyssey Moon Ventures have made a $500,000 deal for the joint development of a low-cost lunar lander for future moon missions - with the money flowing in a direction that's different from usual. Odyssey, the first team to sign up for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, will be paying NASA for technical support.
Eventually, the commercial venture aims to provide the space agency with some of its data from private lunar missions - including its X Prize attempt.
This runs counter to the usual model, in which NASA pays commercial ventures for developing and maintaining the space agency's probes. For example, Lockheed Martin was given a $145 million contract to build NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is now circling the Red Planet.
Sid Sun, project manager for the Common Spacecraft Bus collaboration at NASA's Ames Research Center, told me that the arrangement calls for Odyssey Moon to pay the space agency as much as $500,000 over the next two years. The money would be parceled out on a billable-hour basis, depending on who from NASA is involved in the project for how long.
Sun said he hopes similar deals could be struck with other companies for the application of technologies from NASA's Common Spacecraft Bus - and that means there will be limits to the private-public collaboration.
"We want to be able to share this design as widely as possible ... and in order to share this design with other companies, we cannot share data that's proprietary," he explained.
Here's the edited news release from Odyssey Moon:
"Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC, a U.S. company developing commercial systems for lunar exploration, announced today that it has partnered with NASA for the development of a robotic lunar lander. The unique public-private partnership will combine NASA expertise with innovative approaches to commercial space systems, resulting in new industrial capabilities for the company and benefits to the American space program.
"The partnership was established through a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement signed with the NASA Ames Research Center on Oct. 30. Under the terms of the agreement, NASA will provide technical data and engineering support to Odyssey Moon Ventures in support of the company’s efforts to develop its 'MoonOne' robotic lunar lander, which will have the capabilities of delivering payloads to the surface of the Moon in support of science, exploration and commerce. In return, Odyssey Moon Ventures will reimburse NASA Ames for the cost of providing the technical support and will share its technical data from its engineering tests and actual lunar missions with NASA.
" 'The prospect for commercial delivery of NASA science and exploration instruments to the Moon is consistent with the precedents already set by the NASA COTS program supporting commercial supply for orbital operations," said NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden. "Extending commercial supplier concepts and relationships to advance NASA’s mandates for exploration and permanent operations on the moon is a logical next step."
"Odyssey Moon's MoonOne lunar lander will be adapted from a small spacecraft system under development at NASA Ames called the Common Spacecraft Bus, which uses an innovative modular design adaptable to a variety of mission configurations as either an orbiter or a lander. Under the partnering agreement, NASA will share technical data and provide engineering support to Odyssey Moon Ventures. NASA also will share data from the Hover Test Vehicle, an engineering prototype of the Common Spacecraft Bus developed at Ames to evaluate hardware and software systems through rapid prototyping and ground-based testing.
"Earlier this year, veteran space executive Jay Honeycutt was announced as president of Odyssey Moon Ventures, responsible for all U.S. operations and programs. 'I am extremely pleased and excited to be working on getting us back to the moon in a sustainable way,' said Jay Honeycutt. 'I believe the private sector has an important role to play in a permanent and affordable lunar program. We look forward to working with NASA as both partners and customers in this effort.' Honeycutt has over 40 years of space program experience, including director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and president of Lockheed Martin Space Operations.
"Odyssey Moon Ventures will focus on the commercialization of the NASA technology to develop a series of robotic missions to the moon during the International Lunar Decade. It’s initial MoonOne lunar lander will utilize the innovative modular design of the Common Spacecraft Bus in its efforts to provide low-cost, frequent and affordable access to the moon for private, academic and government customers.
" 'NASA Ames Research Center is developing a number of small lunar mission concepts supporting the U.S. Space Exploration Program,' said Worden. 'We are interested in the prospect of utilizing additional payload capacity on Odyssey Moon Commercial Missions of Opportunity to advance our science and technology goals.'
"Odyssey Moon has already signed on two commercial organizations for the mission, and the company has since received proposals for payloads from customers worldwide. 'We are thrilled with the response to our MoonOne Commercial Mission of Opportunity,' said Odyssey Moon Founder and CEO Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards. 'The tremendous response from both the private sector and government agencies proves that a new value added paradigm is possible with private sector involvement in space exploration.'
"Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC is a U.S. company with offices in Washington, D.C., and Cocoa Beach, Fla. ... In addition to working with NASA on lander development, Odyssey Moon Ventures will be responsible for the U.S. launch operations and ground processing of spacecraft that will be used in future commercial spaceflights to the moon.
"Odyssey Moon Limited is a multinational commercial lunar enterprise based in the Isle of Man that was first unveiled in December 2007 as the first official contender in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition. The company is an innovative partnership of aerospace, financial, science, education, legal and policy interests that have come together to offer unique commercial lunar business services and products for humanity's permanent return to the moon. Odyssey Moon’s prime contractor is MDA, an experienced company with substantial space heritage in providing robotics on the space shuttle and international space station, and more recently for satellite servicing and planetary exploration. Odyssey Moon is dedicated to the long-term responsible development of the moon for the benefit of all humanity."
NASA issued its own release about the deal, quoting Worden as saying that the space agency "is a big supporter of developing the commercial space sector."
"By making these designs available to commercial enterprises, we hope to spark rapid development of low-cost, small spacecraft missions," he said.
