Lockheed Martin jumps into the NASA space taxi race

This rendering depicts Lockheed Martin's Jupiter spacecraft and Exoliner cargo carrier connected to the International Space Station. ( Lockheed Martin illustration by Steve Hartman)

Littleton-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems is jumping into the entry pool to be selected to ferry supplies to and from the International Space Station.

The company submitted a three-part system the Jupiter reusable spacecraft, Exoliner cargo container and a long robotic arm inspired by the space shuttle's similar appendage to try to win a piece of the $14 billion NASA pie.

"We know how important it is to get astronauts on the ISS the supplies they need on time, every time," said Wanda Sigur, vice president of Lockheed Martin's civil space division. "Our approach is designed to deliver a large volume of critical supplies and cargo with each flight, and do so on schedule."

Here's how it works: Jupiter and Exoliner would launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and deliver their cargo to ISS. Jupiter would remain in orbit, leaving the old Exoliner behind on ISS.

Once another Exoliner cargo delivery arrives, Jupiter would remove the old Exoliner from ISS, and replace it with the new. The old cargo container would fall from orbit, burning up upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

As part of the bid for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract, the company is positioning the configuration as a potential support for future deep-space exploration think interstellar mini-marts placed throughout space, serving as pre-positioned stations to provide astronauts with food, fuel and equipment.

Lockheed Martin looked to its previous designs to guide its commercial resupply contract entry. Jupiter builds on the heritage of MAVEN, currently in orbit around Mars, and asteroid explorer OSIRIS-REx, currently under construction at the company's Waterton Canyon facility.

The company also looked to the cargo carrier used on the space station's current Automated Transfer Vehicle to guide the Exoliner, which would have both pressurized and unpressurized cargo capacity.

The award of the contract to Lockheed Martin would bring work to Colorado, including engineering, production and testing of the Jupiter spacecraft and Exoliner's unpressurized cargo carrier and Mission Support Module, which carries Jupiter's refueling supply, according to company spokeswoman Allison Rakes.

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Lockheed Martin jumps into the NASA space taxi race