posted 05-14-2015 03:25 PM               

That Northrop believes its Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform, or VAMP, could be ready to compete for about $1 billion in NASA funding as soon as Oct. 1 is a testament to the company's confidence in the concept, which despite arousing the intrigue of some Venus scientists is technically immature and likely to face competition from finalists of NASA's last New Frontiers contest.

"I think we can be ready," Ron Polidan, Northrop's Redondo, California-based chief architect of civil systems, told SpaceNews.

The next New Frontiers competition is set to begin in the U.S. government's 2016 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. The winning mission would have to be ready for launch around 2021, Jim Green, NASA's director of planetary science, said in February.