DOD chooses three contractors to design JETSON spacecraft

The Defense Department awarded contracts to three vendors to design spacecraft that use nuclear fission to provide electricity to spacecraft systems, according to a Friday announcement.

The Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear Power contract was awarded via the Air Force Research Laboratory, DOD noted in the announcement.

According to the announcement, Lockheed Martin has received $33 million to lay out the technical design of the JETSON high-power mission program application, work that is expected to be completed by December 2025.

“This contract provides for the JETSON effort to mature the technical design of the JETSON spacecraft systems and subsystems to a preliminary design review level of maturity and to fully develop the overall program development and test program planning through critical design review,” DOD said.

At the same time, Intuitive Machines, a Houston, TX-based aerospace company, has been awarded $9 million for the JETSON low-power mission program application contract. DOD noted that the spacecraft design must “employ compact radioisotope power system, electric and/or hybrid propulsion and related support systems in critical areas.”

AFRL also awarded Westinghouse Government Service with a JETSON high-power mission program application contract worth $16.9 million to “mature relevant technologies, conduct analyses, trade studies and explore risk-reduction strategies to investigate how a high power, nuclear fission-system could be implemented from a subsystem, spacecraft, and architecture standpoint.”

Earlier this year, AFRL released two separate solicitation notices for high-power mission program application and low-power mission program application.

AFRL, in its high-power mission program application notice, stressed it is looking to collaborate with vendors whose spacecraft functionality can “enhance the spacecraft components and subsystems to enable game-changing improvements in agility, resilience, affordability and performance for DOD spacecraft.”