WASHINGTON — Two corporations are preparing for a 2026 launch of what they consider will likely be the primary industrial robotic Mars lander mission, the beginning of what the businesses plan to be a daily series of such missions.
Impulse Space and Relativity Space announced last July plans for the lander mission, with Impulse leading development of the lander itself and Relativity providing the launch on its Terran R rocket in development. On the time they were proposing to launch the mission in the subsequent window for Mars missions in late 2024.
Nevertheless, in a presentation on the recent Humans to Mars Summit, executives with the 2 corporations said the mission is now scheduled for launch in 2026. They didn’t disclose the rationale for the delay, but Relativity Space announced in April that a redesigned version of the Terran R rocket will make its debut in 2026, two years later than previously planned.
While the launch of the primary Mars mission can have slipped, the businesses said on the conference that they’re committed to flying a series of such industrial lander missions, creating what Josh Brost, senior vice chairman of revenue operations at Relativity, called a “constant supply chain to Mars.”
Meaning flying missions at every launch opportunity, roughly two years apart. “We are going to make the most of the window every 2.2 years and take not less than one mission up,” said Barry Matsumori, chief operating officer of Impulse Space. He said the businesses would offer a catalog of various payload options, “and that catalog will drive the missions we actually do.”
They argued that having a frequent series of missions will enable latest and lower cost science, including the flexibility to refly payloads. “By making transport to Mars cheaper, you open up that iteration loop that may result in advancements that just couldn’t have been envisioned previously,” said Brost.
Matsumori added they’ve also seen interest from industrial customers, resembling those flying payloads for marketing purposes. The businesses haven’t disclosed any customers yet or the pricing for payloads on the lander.
The businesses have also shared few technical details concerning the lander, but noted they plan to leverage designs and technologies developed for NASA’s InSight Mars lander, resembling its heat shield. “We’re not attempting to reinvent the wheel,” Brost said. “Doing a clean-sheet design of a lander is an insane, monumental engineering feat.”
Impulse is making progress on the propulsion needed for the lander. The corporate announced May 10 it accomplished qualification testing of Saiph, a five-pounds-force thruster, to be used on its first mission to low Earth orbit slated to launch in October. That thruster can even handle maneuvers of the Mars lander during its cruise to the planet, Matsumori said.
Impulse can also be working on Rigel, which is able to produce 180 pounds-force of thrust, that will likely be used for landing on Mars. “The primary thing that every one space vehicles start with is propulsion systems, and that may be a challenge that we feel pretty comfortable with,” he said.
The businesses see NASA as one potential customer of those landers. “We hope that our own government, NASA, can make the most of what we’re doing,” Matsumori said, “in order that they don’t worry concerning the transport, but concerning the science itself.”
NASA has expressed an interest in eventually buying industrial services for Mars science missions. A draft robotic Mars exploration strategy released by NASA in March opened the door to accumulate services for Mars science missions in a way analogous to the Industrial Lunar Payload Services program of robotic lunar lander missions.
“There is no such thing as a shortage of corporations which have interest,” Eric Ianson, director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, said during a March 30 presentation concerning the strategy. “The true query is, have they got the aptitude to find a way to do this job?”
The businesses said they need to reveal with their lander mission that there are corporations each eager about and in a position to tackle Mars missions. “Our long-term vision has been to be considered one of the businesses that makes a everlasting presence on Mars possible,” Brost said.
That’s been a goal long related to SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, who incessantly talks about making humanity multiplanetary. “Within the last several years, there’s really been one loud industrial voice talking about Mars,” Brost said, alluding to SpaceX. “But for Mars to essentially occur and be reasonably priced and sustainable and all of those things, it doesn’t take one company. It takes dozens or a whole bunch. You wish plenty of different people working on different parts of the issue set.”
