Posted by Courtney E. Howard
BOULDER, Colo., 8 Dec. 2011. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. will develop mission concepts for demonstrating solar electric propulsion in space for NASA's future deep-space human exploration missions. Ball, one of five companies awarded study contracts valued up to $600,000 each, will work with NASA to define a mission concept that will demonstrate the solar electric propulsion technologies, capabilities, and infrastructure required for sustainable, affordable human space exploration.
The extremely high efficiency of solar electric power-based propulsion can deliver the logistics support equipment required for deep-space human exploration within an executable launch infrastructure, says a representative. The mission concept studies will identify technology gaps and innovative technical solutions for transportation using solar electric propulsion systems.
NASA officials will use the studies to plan and implement a future flight demonstration mission that will test and validate key capabilities and technologies.
"Moving payloads reliably and cost effectively from low Earth orbit to high-energy orbits is critical for deep space human and robotic exploration," says Cary Ludtke, vice president of Ball's Civil and Operational Space business unit. "In addition to solar electric propulsion and power-related advanced technologies, Ball has broad capabilities on deep space missions, as well as spaceflight systems engineering and integration, including modular design implementation."
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions of the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA, and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems, and RF solutions.
