NASA has selected six small satellite technology projects for continued development under phase II of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The selected proposals included: two projects focused on in-space propulsion; two systems for de-orbiting satellites; one project focused on radiation shielding for small spacecraft; and an improved turbo-pump for small satellite launch vehicles.
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Astrobotic, Blue Origin, ExoTerra, Paragon and SpaceX among contract awardees for advanced technologies
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 14 American companies as partners whose technologies will help enable the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.
The selections are based on NASA’s fourth competitive Tipping Point solicitation and have a combined total award value of about $43.2 million. This investment in the U.S. space industry, including small businesses across the country, will help bring the technologies to market and ready them for use by NASA.
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Credit: NASA
NASA has selected nine small satellite technology projects for funding under the space agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Each contract is worth up to $750,000 over two years.
The proposals include:
Antara Teknik, LLC
Granite Bay, CA
Efficient and Secure Network and Application Communications for Small Spacecraft
Busek Company, Inc.
Natick, MA
Milliarcsecond Small Spacecraft Attitude Control System
CU Aerospace, LLC
Champaign, IL
Fiber-fed Advanced Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT)
Froberg Aerospace, LLC
Rolla, MO
Multi-Mode Micropropulsion
Gener8, Inc.
Sunnyvale, CA
Integrated Waveguide Optical Gyroscope
Innoflight, Inc.
San Diego, CA
Compact Multi-Protocol Modem
Tethers Unlimited, Inc.
Bothell, WA
MakerSat
Valley Tech Systems, Inc.
Folsom, CA
Affordable Small Satellite Launch Vehicle Reaction Control System
Vector Launch Inc.
Tucson, AZ
Flight Demonstration of a Micropump-based Stage Pressurization System
Summaries of the proposals follow.
Pathfinder technology demonstrator CubeSat (Credit: NASA)
NASA has selected 10 CubeSat-related projects for funding under its most recent round of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects. The space agency will enter into negotiations with the proposers for Phase II contracts worth up to $750,000 apiece over two years.
As I was looking through NASA’s recent small business selection announcement for propulsion-related projects, I have found that the space agency has selected 29 Small Business Innovation Research and 8 Small Business Technology Transfer proposals for funding.
The proposals cover a wide range of areas, including in-space propulsion for CubeSats to technologies for new launch vehicles. Several proposals are also focused on in-space propellant depots.
A list of the selected projects with links to the proposals follows.
Two ESA CubeSats, the student-built AAUSat-5 and the professional technology demonstrator GomX-3, were deployed together from the International Space Station on 5 October 2015, going on to separate to begin their missions. (Credit: NASA)
NASA has selected at at least 28 proposals involving Cube-, nano- and micro-sats for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I awards.
The total includes 23 SBIR and five STTR projects. Companies are partnered with university researchers for the STTR awards.
XS-1 vehicle (Credit: Boeing)
I was conducting some research into Defense Department Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards to see what space and rocket projects it has been funding. I found a group of SBIR Phase I contracts awarded by DARPA in 2015, most of them related to the XS-1 launcher program. I don’t think I’ve written about them previously.
CubeSat
Continuing our look NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research Phase II program, we examine three proposals for advanced propulsion technologies that the agency has selected for awards.
NASA selected the Busek Company, of Nantick, Mass., for two SBIR Phase II awards. One involves the development and testing of a flight-weight, 5N-class green monopropellant thruster. The second involves the development of a high-throughput nominal 100-W Hall effect thruster.
The space agency also selected a proposal submitted by CU Aerospace of Champaign, Ill., to develop its CubeSat High Impulse Propulsion System (CHIPS). The company is also using a non-toxic propellant in the system.
