“I’ll buy 10 of those” -NASA’s chief scientist longs for mass-produced satellites

But what about a spacecraft flying the well-trodden paths to the Moon, Mars, Venus, or the asteroid belt? “What do we do with commercial buses that are off the shelf? I’d love to walk around and say, ‘I’m going to buy 10 of them,'” Fox said.

NASA on looking at “block buys” on the next trading topics to the Moon. These privately owned spacecraft, which are part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, carry NASA payloads. They are a precursor to future human exploration. After the Moon, Mars is the next place that can use the CLPS model.

“Mars is another obvious species,” Fox said. “Why can’t I do that with the goal of going somewhere, and saying, ‘Hey, who wants to take this equipment here? I’m very excited about the opportunities that the commercial sector opens up for us.'”

Blue Origin is assembling and testing its first Blue Ring spacecraft.

Credit: Blue Origin

NASA’s list of CLPS aerospace companies includes Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which is also working on NASA, which has a large manned moon, along with SpaceX. Some of the same companies, along with K2 Space, Rocket Lab, Apex Space, Blue Canyon, Millennium Space Systems, and now Vastthey are working on platforms designed in bulk for use in Earth orbit or deep space. Manufacturers see their prototypes in the US military and commercial markets, but NASA could benefit from the same design.

Blue Origin bills its Blue Ring design, which is preparing for its first flight, as a “high-energy solar and chemical vehicle” that can operate, host, and send payloads around Earth, the Moon, Mars, other planets, and near-Earth asteroids at a very low cost.

One thought courtesy of Steve Quyreschief scientist of Blue Origin, is using the Blue Ring to send a series of small satellites to find objects around asteroids. Blue Origin was one of several companies that won NASA study contracts last year to explore new ways to deliver science funding to hard-to-reach areas.