NASA wants new spacecraft to fly to hard-to-reach orbits around Earth and in deep space

A cube-shaped spacecraft with two long wing-like solar panels in orbit above earth.

NASA is asking six companies to help the agency move spacecraft between difficult-to-reach orbits.

The agency recently awarded a total of $1.4 million to the group, which includes companies like Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and Rocket Lab. The goal is to eventually send various sizes and types of spacecraft to a variety of destinations in the final frontier, using orbital transfer vehicles.