The US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Nasa) announced on Monday that it had awarded Lockheed Martin Space a contract to design, develop, test and evaluate the Mars Ascent Vehicle Integrated System. This will be centred on a small, lightweight rocket designated the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which will be used to carry rock, sediment and even atmospheric samples from the surface of the Red Planet into space.

The contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee deal, which potentially could have a value of $194-million. The programme will start no later than February 25 and the company has six years to deliver “multiple” MAV units for testing as well as the actual operational “flight unit” that will be sent to Mars.

The MAV contract marks the start of the most complex robot space mission yet: the Mars Sample Return Programme. This will be a joint program between Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA). If successful, the mission could revolutionise our understanding of the Red Planet.

“This groundbreaking endeavour is destined to inspire the world when the first robotic round-trip mission retrieves a sample from another planet – a significant step that will ultimately help send the first astronauts to Mars,” highlighted Nasa administrator Bill Nelson. “America’s investment in our Mars Sample Return Programme will fulfil a top priority planetary science goal and demonstrate our commitment to global partnerships, ensuring Nasa remains a leader in exploration and discovery.”

The samples that will ultimately be returned to Earth are currently being collected and cached by Nasa’s Perseverance rover, operating in Mars’ Jezero Crater, which is thought to have once contained water. According to the plan, the MAV would be carried by another spacecraft, called the Sample Retrieval Lander, from Earth to the surface of Mars. The Lander would touch down either near or in Jezero Crater. It is not yet clear how it would collect the samples from Perseverance – perhaps by carrying and deploying a small transport rover.

The retrieved samples, in a container, would be placed onboard the MAV, which would then be launched into Martian orbit, using the Sample Retrieval Lander as its launch pad. In space, it would rendezvous with ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft. The orbiter, using its Nasa-developed Capture, Containment, and Return System, would capture the sample container, break out of Martian orbit and return to Earth, delivering the samples safely and securely. This would all take place in the early to middle 2030s.

“Committing to the [MAV] represents an early and concrete step to hammer out the details of this ambitious project not just to land on Mars, but to take off from it,” pointed out Nasa associate administrator for science Thomas Zurbuchen. “We are nearing the end of the conceptual phase for this Mars Sample Return mission, and the pieces are coming together to bring home the first samples from another planet. Once on Earth, they can be studied by state-of-the-art tools too complex to transport into space.”

The MAV must meet strenuous design parameters. It must be compact and light enough to be carried by the Sample Retrieval Lander, but big enough to carry the sample container and to be able to reach Martian orbit. It must be able to withstand the harsh environment of Mars, while it awaits the delivery of the sample container. And it must be capable of working with multiple spacecraft.