The American space agency has channelled funds into a research project to determine the feasibility and costs of such a journey. In a statement, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonia, Texas, said it was working on the study. Researchers will build the spacecraft required for the mission and carry out cost and risk assessments for the new technologies.
The institute said data retrieved on the previous trip “made a compelling case for a follow-up mission”.
News of the study emerged a week after Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine called for Pluto to have its planet status returned.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status to drawf planet in 2006.
The July 2015 fly-by mission was carried out by New Horizons, NASA’s interplanetary space probe which is managed by SwRI.
Breathtaking images of Pluto which is located in the solar system’s Kuiper Belt were sent back to Earth.
The statement read: “The study is one of 10 different mission studies that NASA is sponsoring to prepare for the next Planetary Science Decadal Survey.
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“Our mission concept is to send a single spacecraft to orbit Pluto for two Earth years before breaking away to visit at least one KBO and one other KBO dwarf planet.”
The driving force behind the mission is Dr Alan Stern.
The engineer and planetary scientist is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission as well as the SwRI-funded study.
Dr Stern said: “In an SwRI-funded study that preceded this new NASA-funded study, we developed a Pluto system orbital tour, showing the mission was possible with planned capability launch vehicles and existing electric propulsion systems.
“We also showed it is possible to use gravity assists from Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, to escape Pluto orbit and to go back into the Kuiper Belt for the exploration of more KBOs like MU69 and at least once more dwarf planet for comparison to Pluto.”
The collection of pictures produced in 2015 included a snap of an area close to the dwarf planet’s equator which showed a mountain range believed to be as high as 1,000 feet.
Vast plains of frozen nitrogen and large clouds were also revealed by the probe.
