Rendering of the Firefly Elytra vehicle. Photo: Firefly Aerospace

NASA awarded six companies contracts to provide studies of orbital transfer vehicles (OTV) to explore future applications of OTVs for NASA missions. Arrow Science and Technology, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Impulse Space, Rocket Lab, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) all receive firm fixed-price contracts of $1.4 million, NASA announced Tuesday. 

Arrow will partner with Quantum Space, which is developing the Ranger multi-mission spacecraft for payload delivery. Blue Origin will produce two studies on its Blue Ring platform and another on the New Glenn upper stage. 

Firefly’s study will focus on its Elytra orbital transfer vehicles. Impulse Space will produce two studies, one for the Mira spacecraft and the Helios kick stage. 

Rocket Lab will produce two studies — one on the upper stage of the Neutron rocket, and another on its Explorer spacecraft. And ULA will study the cislunar mission capabilities of an extended-duration Centaur V upper stage.

“With the increasing maturity of commercial space delivery capabilities, we’re asking companies to demonstrate how they can meet NASA’s need for multi-spacecraft and multi-orbit delivery to difficult-to-reach orbits beyond current launch service offerings,” said Joe Dant, orbital transfer vehicle strategic initiative owner for the Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.