Accelerate progress in our three core enterprises — Explore Worlds, Find Life, and Defend Earth. You can support the entire fund, or designate a core enterprise of your choice.
Rocket Lab's Mars Sample Return Proposal Rocket Lab's Mars Sample Return proposal consists of three parts—a dedicated telecom orbiter, a smaller sample return lander with a single-stage Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), and an Earth Return Orbiter—all built under by one vertically integrated company. This streamlined architecture relies on chemical propulsion, a simplified sample arm, and heritage elements like Perseverance’s aeroshell to cut costs and schedule, aiming to retrieve Perseverance’s sealed Mars cores and deliver them safely to Earth. Rocket Lab