SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 14, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Momentus (http://www.momentus.space), a leading in-space transportation company, today announced that it is a major team member on a pioneering proposal that has been selected for award by NASA to build a prototype of the TransAstra Mini Bee™ asteroid mining vehicle. Momentus' Vigoride™ satellite shuttle will join with the Mini Bee™ system to provide full space flight capability. NASA has announced that it plans to award $2M for a Phase III NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) contract in the fall of 2019, pending successful contract negotiation. The $2M contract is part of a larger effort with industrial matching funds to complete the development and ground tests of this future smallsat asteroid mining technology demonstration.
Once launched into space the Mini Bee™, built on the Momentus' Vigoride™ shuttle, will rendezvous with, and then capture the small artificial asteroid to demonstrate TransAstra's patent pending, breakthrough Optical Mining™ method of asteroid resource harvesting.
The team for this NASA-funded effort will include a major role for Momentus and technical support from researchers and engineers at leading Universities.
"We could not be more thrilled that NASA has selected TransAstra, Momentus, and our other industrial partners to work together to build the Mini Bee system," said Joel Sercel, CTO at Momentus. "NASA's investment in this area is further validation of the importance of water as a propellant for transportation in space, a core tenet of the Momentus business model."
Water is the safest, most cost-effective propellant and its use places Momentus in a strong position for new space innovation, while underscoring sustainability. By working with TransAstra and partnering with NASA on this exciting effort, Momentus will help lead the way towards low-cost "in-situ"(in space) resources furthering space exploration.
"This selection by NASA shows the flexibility, credibility, and utility of our Vigoride satellite shuttle," said Mikhail Kokorich, CEO of Momentus. "We are delighted that our CTO, Joel Sercel has been honored with this largest ever NIAC Fellowship award."
About Momentus
Momentus is providing a shuttle service for satellites. Chemical rockets deliver our shuttles loaded with satellites into an initial orbit. Our shuttles, powered by water plasma engines, then transport these satellites the last mile to their target orbits.
For more information and a list of job openings, please visit us at http://www.momentus.space/careers
About TransAstra
TransAstra leads the world in the technology for harvesting water and other vital supplies from asteroids and the Moon. We will furnish the material for the new industrial revolution in space by turning turn thousands of asteroids into resupply depots.. Our mission is to supply the industrialization and settlement of space for the benefit of Earth and all humanity.
For more information please visit
http://www.transastracorp.com
SOURCE Momentus
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