NASA Selects 5 Aerospace Companies For New Mars Orbiter Concept

American space agency NASA has reportedly chosen five aerospace organizations to carry out concept studies for its next possible Mars Orbiter. The chosen companies include Space Systems/Loral, Orbital ATK, Northrop Grumman Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Space Systems and The Boeing Company. In addition, NASA is also in the process of developing its Mars 2020 rover.

"We're excited to continue planning for the next decade of Mars exploration," said Geoffrey Yoder, from NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The concept studies will carve the way for the new Mars orbiter mission to make the best utilization of operational capabilities, imaging and communications. The five aerospace companies will test all the avenues for providing extra scientific instruments and functionalities apart from optical communications. The new Mars orbiter mission will make the best use of latest technologies developed in the US and take help of solar electric propulsion to put forward "flexible launch, mission and orbit capabilities".

The concept studies program will be managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL) under its Mars Exploration Program. The space agency presently gets data from the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers on the red planet through the Mars Odyssey orbiter and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In addition, the MAVEN orbiter is kept on standby so that it can take on a more active role during emergencies.

Where it's at: Sample caching, range nav & a microphone. All about the #Mars2020 rover https://t.co/LFXMbqLzNf pic.twitter.com/bRHcBZindE

— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) July 15, 2016

Earlier this week, the space agency said that it was moving forward with plans of designing and fabricating an advanced rover that could be ready to be launched by 2020 and land on the Martian surface in 2021, as per reports. The mission of the new rover would be to investigate the rocks on the planet for proof of any life having existed there, as well as collect samples that will be brought back to our planet. The Mars exploration program's long term plan is to send astronauts to the planet sometime in 2030s, apart from examining the probability of Mars having hosted life.