Virgin Orbit is a spinoff of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and is dedicated to low-cost smallsat projects. This new Virgin Orbit endeavor was reportedly inspired by NASA’s recent InSight mission, which successfully sent two cubesats to Mars. Now, the company believes it can send its own similar spacecraft (as light as 110 pounds) into deep space using its LauncherOne rocket.

The potential for small satellites stretches far beyond LEO – and whoever said Virgin’s orbit was limited to the Earth?

We’re above and beyond excited to announce our first mission to the Red Planet. https://t.co/bxiV1RuIAs

— Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) October 9, 2019

Once the cubesats reach the planet, they may take photos, study the atmosphere or look for water. Eventually, Virgin Orbit may examine the moons of Mars, Venus and “maybe a couple of the asteroids in the asteroid belt,” Will Pomerantz, the vice president of special projects at Virgin Orbit, told The Verge.

Virgin Orbit will have to complete its LauncherOne rocket first. The 70-foot-long rocket will be dropped from Virgin Orbit’s Boeing 747 carrier, dubbed “Cosmic Girl.” The rocket will then blast off from mid-air. LauncherOne has completed ‘captive carry’ and drop tests, but it has yet to take its first test flight. The success of these Mars-based cubesat missions will likely depend on LauncherOne.

The two proposals are being funded in $400,000, nine-month concept studies. Whichever proposal wins the day will launch as one of the payloads aboard the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) in October 2024. That might not sound like a lot of money even at such an early stage, but that’s part of the point — NASA sees this as a chance to show that you can develop valuable space technology at a “reasonable price.”

The winning project could be a vital part of NASA’s long-term plans. With plans for an enduring human presence on the Moon and an eventual crewed journey to Mars, anticipating space weather could prove essential — travelers don’t need solar flares and other deep space conditions placing entire missions in jeopardy. This could also improve humanity’s overall understanding of the Solar System, including how the Sun affects the Earth.

SpaceX is expanding its launch services to directly address the needs of small satellite operators through regularly scheduled, dedicated Falcon 9 rideshare missions https://t.co/jqQxEdt4xp pic.twitter.com/3gzOPxdVkW

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 5, 2019

Rides scheduled more than a year before launch will start at $2.5 million for payloads of up to 150 kg (330 lbs) and $4.5 million for payloads of up to 300 kg (660 lbs). The price will go up closer to the mission, jumping to $3 million and $6 million, respectively. While that may sound like a lot, TechCrunch points out that the lowest cost for a regular SpaceX launch is currently around $57 million.

Payloads that need to delay their launch will be able to apply the money they’ve paid toward the cost or rebooking on another mission. One of the major perks is that the small operators won’t be tied to the success of larger launches. At the moment, launches are usually scheduled around one or two big-ticket customers. If they run into delays, everyone is held up. This new ridesharing approach will allow the missions to continue, even if some customers run into delays. “If you are ready to fly during the scheduled launch period, you will fly,” SpaceX promises.

So far, SpaceX has committed to three missions. The first will launch between November 2020 and March 2021. The second is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022, and the third is slated for the first quarter of 2023. That should give satellite operators looking to hitch a ride plenty of time to prepare.

The unique feature of the Virgin Orbit program is how quickly a launch can be arranged. Typically, a launch takes years of planning and can only take place from certain sites which access particular orbits. This means that access to a given orbit can never be guaranteed on short notice. However, Virgin believes it can offer launches with as little as a week’s notice by making use of its customized 747-400 aircraft which acts as a “flying launch pad.”

This speed of deployment is a particular selling point for the military. “We’ve built a launch system to address commercial needs, but we’ve found it has enormous advantages for government customers,” said Dan Hart, President and CEO of Virgin Orbit.

The RAF’s Artemis project is not to be confused with NASA’s Artemis project. NASA’s Artemis is a commercial partnership for moon landings, and the RAF’s Artemis is a commercial partnership for launching satellites. Despite the similar names and fields, they are totally different projects.

Hart also expressed optimism that the project could support peaceful international relations in space: “Ultimately, we are hopeful that by demonstrating the capability to quickly and easily deploy and replace satellites in Low Earth Orbit we will be helping to remove the incentive for any nation to invest the money in harming another nation’s satellite.”

Virgin Orbit performed a successful drop test of its LauncherOne vehicle a few weeks ago. Now it will finalize assembly and testing of its orbital rocket before the first launch into space, scheduled for later this year.