>>12975120Lockheed Martin never fails to disappoint me. Pic related
>2018Lockheed proposes a 100% reusable lunar lander SSTO. It reuses the Orion pressure vessel as its crew cabin because Orion is actually pretty much done on terms of R&D. It’s a neat lander but it faces a lot of backlash because it has zero growth in terms of large cargo, and it also requires 40-50 tons of Hydrolox delivered per sortie. Plus...no one really asked for it.
>2019NASA announces a call for lunar landers that could land people on the moon by 2024. Lockheed revised their SSTO design and changes it a bit. It now has a distinct descent stage and ascent stage. The Ascent Stage has an Orion pressure vessel, but also reuses the Orion Service Module. This is a very smart move. Both of these systems are pretty much complete, and are already thoroughly tested. The descent stage would be a truncated version of their SSTO lander, albeit expendable. Despite the utility of their new plan, NASA doesn’t seem to go forward with it.
>2020Lockheed announces that they are building the Ascent Stage for the Integrated Lander Vehicle. Blue Origin handles the descent stage, and Northrop makes the transfer element. For some reason, Lockheed’s new ascent stage doesn’t reuse the Orion pressure vessel OR service module as the 2019 version did. This is likely because of weight concerns, as the Blue Origin descent stage is too anemic to land them on the lunar surface. The new ascent stage requires a clean-slate pressure vessel, tanks, etc. Lockheed basically sold out.
