Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) is a planetary exploration program operated by NASA. The program funds small, low-cost spacecraft for stand-alone planetary exploration missions. These spacecraft are intended to launch as secondary payloads on other missions and are riskier than Discovery or New Frontiers missions.[1]
The program selects missions from multiple proposals and gives them some money to begin development. After early development they are analyzed to see if they are cost-effective and scientifically valuable during Key Decision Point-C. If they pass Key Decision Point-C then they move into full development. The missions must weigh less than 180 kg.[2][3] So far only the first two missions have launched, and the remaining missions have struggled to stay within budget and find missions to launch with, and have been removed from multiple launches. Lunar Trailblazer and EsCAPADE are expected to launch in 2024.
- ^ "NASA SOMA: SIMPLEx- Homepage". soma.larc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ Almeida, Andres (2019-06-19). "SIMPLEx Small Satellite Concept Finalists Target Moon, Mars and Beyond". NASA. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
- ^ "NASA selects planetary mission proposals large and small". SpaceNews. 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2022-01-12.