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DARPA Seeks Proposals for Lunar Orbiter to Prospect for Water Ice and Test Low Orbit Operations
WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals for a compact lunar orbiter mission designed to assess operations in very low lunar orbits and探寻potential deposits of water ice. This initiative, known as the Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO), aims to advance cislunar capabilities and resource identification.
Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) Program
DARPA published a program solicitation on April 14, outlining the LASSO mission concept. The agency is inviting proposals for preliminary design studies that could pave the way for the construction of a dedicated spacecraft. This project underscores DARPA’s dual objectives: to pioneer novel technologies for lunar operations and to bolster the prospect of utilizing lunar resources.
Testing Very Low Lunar Orbits
According to the solicitation, DARPA’s interest in LASSO stems from two primary goals. The first is to evaluate navigation and propulsion systems crucial for maneuvering in extremely low lunar orbits, potentially as close as 10 kilometers above the lunar surface. Orbiting at such reduced altitudes presents significant challenges due to irregularities in the moon’s gravitational field caused by mass concentrations. These gravitational anomalies necessitate frequent course corrections to maintain a stable and secure orbit.
Applications for Cislunar Space Situational Awareness
DARPA emphasizes that the technologies developed for low lunar orbit operations have broader implications for cislunar space activities. Citing the U.S. Space Force’s focus on cislunar space situational awareness (SSA), the solicitation highlights the critical need for enhanced spacecraft maneuverability. “Sustained and advanced maneuverability for spacecraft is vital to enabling further improvements of SSA in cislunar space,” the document asserts, indicating the strategic importance of this capability.
Mapping Lunar Water Ice Resources
Beyond validating low-orbit operations, LASSO is tasked with mapping the lunar terrain to locate significant concentrations of water ice. The program aims to identify deposits “that are large enough and with a high enough confidence to justify the expense and energy required for extraction,” the solicitation explains. The mission objective includes surveying the entire lunar surface within a four-year timeframe, pinpointing regions where subsurface water ice concentrations reach at least 5%.
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Benefits for DARPA, Space Force, and Commercial & NASA Initiatives
“LASSO will benefit DARPA, and ultimately the U.S. Space Force, by establishing innovative technologies that can provide improved maneuverability and SSA while also supporting commercial space ventures and NASA missions by confirming the existence of verified water reserves,” DARPA stated in its solicitation. The program is anticipated to contribute significantly to both national security and broader space exploration objectives.
Proposal and Development Phases
DARPA is requesting six-page abstracts from interested organizations outlining their LASSO concepts, followed by oral presentations. The agency intends to select multiple proposals for a six-month conceptual design study, designated Phase 1A. Subsequently, an 18-month Phase 1B will further advance selected concepts through a critical design review. Following these initial phases, DARPA anticipates choosing a single provider for Phase 2, a one-year undertaking to construct the LASSO spacecraft.
NASA Launch Collaboration
DARPA’s direct involvement with LASSO will conclude upon completion of the spacecraft. However, the solicitation indicates that DARPA will collaborate with NASA to facilitate the launch of the orbiter. The spacecraft design must be compatible with an ESPA payload adapter, a standardized interface for secondary payloads, suggesting a cost-effective launch approach.
NASA’s Prior Lunar Water Exploration Efforts
NASA’s previous endeavors to explore lunar water resources have encountered technical and budgetary obstacles. The Lunar Trailblazer small satellite, launched by NASA on February 26 to search for water ice from lunar orbit, experienced malfunctions shortly after launch. NASA’s most recent update on March 12 indicated that the spacecraft’s primary science mission “is no longer possible.”
Furthermore, NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission, designed to prospect for ice in the moon’s south polar regions, faced setbacks. In July 2024, NASA announced the mission would not launch on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander as initially planned due to escalating costs and schedule delays. NASA is now actively seeking partnerships with industry to execute the VIPER mission without incurring additional expenses.
Budget Considerations for LASSO
While DARPA’s solicitation does not specify a budget for LASSO, it mandates that proposals include an estimated “rough order of magnitude” cost in the abstract, followed by a more detailed and “reasonable, realistic, and affordable” price in the oral presentation. This cost-conscious approach reflects the agency’s focus on efficient and impactful solutions.
Building Upon LunA-10 and LOGIC Initiatives
LASSO represents DARPA’s latest initiative focused on lunar activities. In 2023, the agency unveiled the 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) project to investigate essential lunar infrastructure, spanning power generation to transportation networks. DARPA selected over a dozen organizations to conduct studies on these crucial aspects, emphasizing interoperability and collaborative solutions.
Michael Nayak, a program manager at DARPA, announced at the 40th Space Symposium on April 9 that the findings of LunA-10 would be published in May as “The Commercial Lunar Economy Field Guide.” This guide presents “one vision of how we can get to that fully functioning circular lunar economy in the next 10 years.”
This initiative led to a subsequent effort, the Lunar Operating Guidelines for Infrastructure Consortium (LOGIC), sponsored by DARPA and managed by the Applied Physics Lab. LOGIC is open to global companies and organizations. “Our goal is to use this forum to figure out commercial-to-commercial issues,” Nayak explained, focusing on standards development and practical experimentation to facilitate lunar commerce.
Nayak noted that the LunA-10 project highlighted the requirement for large-scale power systems to support prospective lunar mining operations, along with thermal management systems for spacecraft survival during the lunar night. He also alluded to the LASSO program, stating DARPA’s interest in “very-low-altitude prospecting around the moon,” foreshadowing the formal announcement of the solicitation.