Lockheed Martin has announced plans to send humans on a three-day flight around Mars.
At a meeting of the Florida Committee of the National Space Club, former NASA space shuttle pilot Tony Antonelli said that the idea of a "Martian base camp" will be implemented in 2028.
According to Antonelli, Lockheed Martin is not waiting for "some miracle" to get things done. Instead, the company will rely on existing technology. The six astronauts aboard Orion will orbit Mars for three days. The mission will take place within the next 10-12 years, Antonelli said.
The announcement came at a time when NASA is working on a demand from the Donald Trump administration to assess the feasibility of sending a team of astronauts around the Moon with the first flight of the Space Launch System and Orion.
Lockheed Martin first announced it would join the Mars Race in May 2016 at the People on Mars Summit in Washington DC. The company is confident that by circling the Red Planet, astronauts will be able to carry out scientific research in real time. They will analyze the Martian rock, soil samples and select the ideal landing site for humans on the planet's surface.
NASA wants to get to Mars in the 2030s. Lockheed Martin hopes to convince the space agency that the orbital post a few years earlier was an important milestone in achieving its goal.
Lockheed Martin will use Orion as the mission's command and control center. Technology will help astronauts remotely explore Mars and survive there for 1,000 days.
The company is also developing space dwellings based on current NASA projects. The dwellings will use a solar-powered electric propulsion system, a technology already powered by satellites.
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The spacecraft will be launched in 2018 without a team, followed by a manned mission five years later.
The China National Space Administration also plans to reach Mars by 2021.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, also believes that sending the first humans to Mars will be possible in the next 10-15 years.