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Saab Sensis expects a government-funded lunar station to be initiated in the next NASA funding cycle. Saab Sensis expects
privately-owned space stations on the surface of the moon once a government-owned central station is established,
driven in part by private efforts such as the X-Prize that will lower the cost of space travel. It is likely that the model of a government-funded central base with privately-funded remote stations will expand to Mars. These remote stations will need to be supplied with indigenous lunar and Martian raw materials such as subsurface ice.
In anticipation of this market need, Saab Sensis is exploring the feasibility of using an Automated Material Delivery System at an unmanned mining facility. This system will be remotely controlled to automatically deliver mined products to remote customer depots. Since there will be little transportation infrastructure, and since there is virtually no atmospheric drag on the surface of the moon, a ballistic delivery system for large chunks of raw material is being explored.
To remotely control the system, Saab Sensis expects to purchase communication bandwidth from service providers that
will own and operate dedicated inter-planetary communication links. Communication costs are a direct function of
the amount of bandwidth utilized, so minimizing communication bandwidth will be a key discriminating factor in
choosing a design.
In order to select a potential contractor, Saab Sensis is requesting bidders to build a scale model launcher that will deliver dried beans into bowls that simulate customer depots. Saab Sensis will require each team to split into two segments in order to demonstrate the communication concept from one part of the team to the other.
For safety and consistency, and to ensure the cost-effectiveness of the final design, the materials used to build the device will be restricted by Saab Sensis Corporation. This document includes a catalog of materials that can be used, and each vendor will have two weeks from the Kick-Off event to propose revisions to the material list. Saab Sensis Corporation will assess each proposed addition, and if accepted the new material would be allowed for all bidders.
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