You provide your components and we provide the rest.

Making mission impossible, possible

The Milo Space Science Institute is dedicated to making deep space science missions affordable and accessible. The cost sharing model allows members numerous pathways to participate at a fraction of the total mission cost.

Tell us what you would like to do

Luna Ride

The Milo Space Science Institute at ASU is seeking collaborations with international partners based on their unique capabilities and mutual scientific goals to participate in a Lunar science rideshare mission, Luna Ride. Milowill work with respondents who are interested in deploying payloads to the surface of the Moon. Luna Ride services include transportation, communication, support for survivability, and deployment of payloads onto the lunar surface, allowing you to focus on development of new scientific instrumentation. We seek indications of interest from nations or organizations with mature space flight heritage as well as from those with relatively new, and perhaps growing, space agencies and/or ecosystems.

The contemporary approach to space offers access to unparalleled Lunar Terrain Vehicle capabilities, and preeminent faculty and instrumentation facilities at ASU. Unprecedented cost savings are realized from mission infrastructure bundled as a service, and economies of scale through the ride sharing model.

Science Objectives

The Artemis Science Plan defines a number of overarching science objectives for the entire Artemis program, spanning all Artemis missions up to and including activities at the Artemis Base Camp. The Artemis Science Plan objectives are:
1. Understanding planetary processes
2. Understanding volatile cycles
3. Interpreting the impact history of the EarthMoon system
4. Revealing the record of the ancient Sun
5. Observing the universe from a unique location
6. Conducting experimental science in the lunar environment
7. Investigating and mitigating exploration risks to humans

Benefits

The Luna Ride mission leverages an infrastructure as a service model to reduce cost of participation and includes launch, landing, transportation, communication, support for survivability, and deployment of payloads onto the lunar surface.

A key benefit to Luna Ride is access to ASU personnel and facilities. Complete instruments may also be purchased from the ASU space services group.

The low cost of entry opens access to Lunar exploration for many new participants, including university space programs, small businesses, and other non-traditional organizations.

More Information

1. Lunar Science Rideshare Mission (Luna Ride) Request for Information (RFI)
2. Artemis Science Objectives and Traceability to Science Priorities
3. NASA Moon to Mars Architecture

Apophis Pathfinder

The Milo Institute at ASU has designed a dedicated mission that would focus specifically on performing the first- ever close flyby of asteroid (99942) Apophis and feed forward information to other missions. The Milo Apophis Pathfinder mission would conduct a flyby precursor investigation of the asteroid several years in advance of the Apophis 2029 Earth flyby, using a pair of small spacecraft to provide initial reconnaissance data, to inform and influence planning for additional missions to (99942) Apophis in 2029 and beyond. Science objectives include more precise estimates of mass and density, shape, geology, composition, and orbit parameters – while helping to inform planetary defense strategies.

Science Objectives

'- Increase knowledge of orbit, geology, and composition
- Understand the formation and evolutionary mechanics of S-Type asteroids
- Influence planning for the 2029 flyby for ground-based telescopes
- Combine flyby observations asteroids with ground-based observations of the systems
- Mass estimation of Apophis using the OpGrav technique
- Inform future Planetary Defense strategies

Benefits

Affordable and mature mission concept
Foundation for a future rapid response for Planetary Defense
Demonstration of an innovative approach to space exploration
First University led mission to a “potentially hazardous” asteroid
Promotes international cooperation in space science

More Information

1. J. Bell, R. Park, et. al., Apophis T-7 Years 2022 (LPI Contrib. No. 2681)
2. Christensen, L., Park, R. S., and Bell, J. F. III, (2021), Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets.