Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. announced Feb. 12 that it had received a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy to build and test a pair of power systems designed to support future NASA missions into deep space.

The nuclear power systems, called Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators, are durable sources of power built to support interplanetary voyages like that of the Perseverance Rover, which is scheduled to land on Mars later this month.
 
Aerojet Rocketdyne will work with Teledyne Energy Systems Inc. to develop the energy systems. The two companies previously worked together to develop the MMRTG used in the Perseverance Rover.

It's not clear yet which missions the new power systems will support, but Aerojet Rocketdyne pointed out in an announcement that MMRTG systems will likely power upcoming NASA missions to moons of Saturn and Neptune.

“While the specific missions each unit will support have not yet been determined, the MMRTG is well suited for a variety of environments,” Aerojet Rocketdyne Chief Executive Eileen P. Drake said in a statement.

Drake said that the power system, which typically serves missions in which a lack of proximity from the sun reduces the effectiveness of solar energy, “can operate on the surface of planets and moons in a planetary atmosphere or in the vacuum of space.”

Financial details of the contract have not yet been announced. Aerojet Rocketdyne said it would be tasked with delivering the MMRTGs to an Energy Department laboratory in Idaho, where they would be prepared for future launches.

The new agreement comes as Aerojet Rocketdyne prepares for a proposed acquisition deal under which the company will be absorbed by Lockheed Martin Corp.

That deal, worth $4.4 billion, was announced in December and is expected to close in the second half of 2021.