Anna Forrester
A subsidiary of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates will support the research efforts of NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other institutions on the asteroid Psyche as an industrial partner on a potential Discovery mission.
MDA said Thursday Space Systems/Loral will participate in work on concept design studies with Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator on the project and director of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration.
SSL President John Celli noted that this is the first time the company will serve as a primary industrial partner on a Discovery-class mission.
The Psyche exploration project is one of five mission concepts awarded Phase A contracts under the NASA Discovery Program to proceed with comprehensive studies and analyses.
SSL will provide the power-propulsion chassis to support the Psyche mission, MDA said.
NASA will select up to two projects in late 2016 for flight in the early 2020s.
