NASA FACT SHEET
FY 2022 Budget Request
Office of STEM Engagement
($ Millions)

NASA makes investments in engaging students, educators, and educational institutions to: attract diverse groups of students to STEM through learning opportunities that spark interest and provide connections to NASA’s mission and work; create unique opportunities for a diverse set of students to contribute to NASA’s work; and build a diverse future STEM workforce. The Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) leads NASA’s STEM engagement function, providing strategic guidance and direction in partnership with the mission directorates.

In FY 2022, NASA will focus on increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM by bolstering internships and other direct student opportunities, enhancing Next Gen STEM’s K-12 portfolio of student learning opportunities, and expanding partnerships and networks to magnify their reach and impact. The STEM Engagement Program is comprised of four projects:

Partnership will Accelerate Growth of Newly Launched High-Resolution Weather Solutions Platform, Filling Critical Coverage Gaps in Existing Radar Networks

SAN FRANCISCO & FORT WORTH, Texas & LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(Rise Fund/Climavision PR)–The Rise Fund, TPG’s global impact investing platform, today announced a $100 million strategic investment in Climavision, a pioneering weather services and intelligence platform powered by a private network of high-resolution radars, GPS-RO data, and proprietary software to vastly improve the timing and accuracy of weather forecasting and to fill low-level gaps in existing weather surveillance.

Climavision was formed out of Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC), the world’s largest privately held commercial supplier of weather radar systems. EEC, which is majority controlled by the Cookes family, has a 50-year history and more than 1,200 installations across 95 countries. By combining lower altitude, proprietary data with cutting-edge machine learning and AI technology, Climavision’s one-of-a-kind offering provides 10x higher resolution and more accurate forecasting to address critical coverage gaps left by existing radar networks across the U.S.

Launcher announced earlier this week that it had raised $11.7 in a Series A funding round that was led by Boost.VC and company founder Max Hoat. The funding, which exceeded the original goal of $7 million, will help the company fund development of its Launcher Light rocket. The booster will be similar in performance to Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, which is capable of putting 300 kg into low Earth orbit. […]

Successful multi-beam, over-the-air tests in the UK and US advance multi-beam antenna development

LONDON/RESTON, Va., 3 June (SES/Isotropic Systems PR) – SES Government Solutions (SES GS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, and Isotropic Systems, a leading developer of transformational broadband terminal technologies, announce the successful completion of the first of two milestone next-generation antenna trials with the U.S. Military aimed at unleashing unprecedented information distribution to warfighters across the battlefield.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army, through the innovative Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, are evaluating the ability of Isotropic Systems’ optical beamforming antenna to enable frontline armed forces to access high-speed, real-time data simultaneously over multiple commercial and military satellites.

• Bose-Einstein condensates, novel atomic clocks, laser and matter wave interferometry are promising quantum technologies for use in space.
• Satellites modernized with quantum technology offer enormous potential for satellite-based earth observation, communication and navigation.
• The new DLR institute will establish itself with up to 120 employees in the quantum quarter of the University of Hannover.

HANNOVER, Germany (DLR PR) — Quantum-based measurement technologies will revolutionize the sensor technology of satellites in the future. Quantum sensors based on Bose-Einstein condensates, novel atomic clocks, laser and matter wave interferometry are just some of the quantum technologies that are about to make the leap to routine use in space. In the course of a “second quantum revolution”, an unprecedented increase in the precision of measurement technology and sensors in space travel is taking place with previously untapped application possibilities. 

SAN DIEGO, 02 JUNE 2021 (GA-EMS PR) – General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced today that it was awarded a contract by the Space Development Agency to demonstrate space-to-air optical communication using GA-EMS’ Laser Interconnect and Networking Communication System (LINCS) and a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper®. This contract is in conjunction with an upcoming experiment where GA-EMS and SDA are partnering to launch the LINCS system and conduct a series of experiments demonstrating space-based optical communication starting later this summer.

NASA FACT SHEET
FY 2022 Budget Request
Safety, Security, and Mission Services
($ Millions)

Safety, Security, and Mission Services (SSMS) enable NASA’s missions by providing foundational support capabilities. SSMS provides strategic direction and integration of essential business and technical functions across NASA’s nine centers and Headquarters. SSMS funds independent oversight of NASA’s mission programs to ensure the health and safety of NASA employees and the public. SSMS provides services and capabilities that ensure NASA has the technical skills, physical assets, financial resources, and top talent to be successful, safe, and reliable.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — The latest SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after launching at 1:29 p.m. EDT Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bearing more than 7,300 pounds of science experiments, new solar arrays, and other cargo.

The spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy. It is scheduled to autonomously dock at the space station around 5 a.m. Saturday, June 5, and remain at the station for about a month. Coverage of arrival will begin at 3:30 a.m. on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (Nexus Inc. PR) –Nexus Inc. (“Nexus”), a deep tech digital asset management firm that develops and executes Internet of Things-centred solutions for online platforms and institutions around the globe, is pleased to announce the launch of the world’s first ethereum blockchain network onboard the International Space Station, with the sole objective of providing clients with ultra-secure cryptocurrency transactions against terrestrial hackers.

Executed from Nexus’s trusted ground-based interface terminal which has an uplink-downlink latency of at least 8 hours, the deceleration of the transaction speed, resulting in transmission delays in order to execute multisignature protocols, are key to defeating theft and fraud. Employing the mechanism of 2 out of 3 multisignature keys will ensure that if one authentication key is compromised, the funds transaction remains safe and unscathed. Additionally, Nexus’s blockchain payload caps no more than 100 transactions per transmission, further augmenting an already existing multiple layers of security.

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 3, 2021 (LeoLabs PR) — LeoLabs, Inc., the leading commercial provider of low Earth orbit (LEO) mapping and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services, today announced it has closed a $65 million Series B financing round, jointly led by Insight Partners and existing investor Velvet Sea Ventures. With this round, LeoLabs has raised over $100 million in total capital.

LONG BEACH, Calif., 02 June 2021 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab, the leading launch and space systems company, announced today it has received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume launches. The approval comes fewer than three weeks after Rocket Lab experienced an anomaly during its 20^th launch, resulting in the loss of the mission.

BRUSSELS (Airbus PR) – The European Commission has selected a consortium of companies and research institutes to study the design of the future European quantum communication network, EuroQCI (quantum communication infrastructure). It will enable ultra-secure communication between critical infrastructures and government institutions across the European Union.

The European consortium led by Airbus is composed of Leonardo, Orange, PwC France and Maghreb, Telespazio (a Leonardo and Thales 67/33 joint venture), the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) and the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM).