NASA has selected hundreds of small businesses and numerous research institutes to develop technology to help drive the future of space exploration, from novel sensors and electronics to new types of software and advanced features. Recent projects under the auspices of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Transfer Technology (STTR) program include a powerful electric rocket and a solar panels that can be used both in space and on Earth. .
Prizes are estimated at $ 50 million, with investments spread across 39 states and Washington. Under this nomination, 333 proposals from 257 small businesses and 41 research institutes – including 10 Minority Serving Institutions – will be awarded first-round funding for technology development. View a complete list of SBIR award winners and STTR awards online.
“NASA is working on an ambitious campaign that requires innovative solutions from a variety of sources – especially our small businesses,” said NASA Deputy Chief Executive Officer Pam Melroy. complex challenges, and important in maintaining NASA’s leadership in space. The SBIR program is one of the key ways in which we can do this and create jobs in a growing, sustainable global economy. ”
NASA’s investment in American small businesses and research institutes helps to provide the innovation needed for exciting and ambitious missions on the corporation’s horizons and promotes strong and innovative commercial sectors.
Each proposal team will receive $ 150,000 – a 20% increase over previous years’ funding – to determine its feasibility and feasibility. SBIR Phase I contracts are awarded to small businesses and last for six months, while Phase I STTR contracts are awarded to small businesses in partnership with a research institute and last for 13 months.
“Options include a wide range of enabling agencies to test human performance in space exploration, space technology, science, and aeronautics,” said Jenn Gustetic, director of innovation on the first stage and collaboration of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “We are pleased with the use of these Artemis technology and other services, as well as their use in the commercial and everyday life of the people.”
Most powerful rocket engine
About 30% of the prizes will be awarded to the first recipients of the NASA SBIR / STTR. This includes Ad Astra Rocket Company based in Webster, Texas. With the Phase I award, the company will develop a new way to form part of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMR, engine – the most powerful rocket engine the company has been working with NASA for 25 years. In the engine, powerful radiofrequency waves are introduced by special horns, called couplers. The waves turn the gas into an ion plasma, which is accelerated to provide rocket launchers. The Phase I support will be used to build couplers in a way that will increase the engine power limit. This innovation will help bring the whole engine closer to sales, where it can be used for easy-to-use satellites, monthly delivery, and more.
About 25% of selected companies are women, veteran, disadvantaged, and / or HUB zone small businesses. For example, D2K Technologies, a small and women-owned enterprise based in Oceanside, California, will create a health monitoring and advisory system for solenoid operationd valves (SOVs) used in Phase I award-winning industries. , test centers, and start-up centers, as SOVs are an integral part of many fluid systems. Also, with the widespread use of SOVs in industrial use, the system could be useful in oil and gas, nuclear, manufacturing, power generation, chemical, food, and pharmaceutical companies. The company is also the first NASA SBIR award.
“Finding and building a diverse business community is an integral part of our social networking program, and efforts to reach them can begin even before Phase I,” said Gynelle Steele, NASA’s chief program officer for SBIR / STTR at NASA headquarters in Washington. . “For example, working in partnership with NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project, we began providing M-STTR planning grants last year, which fostered relationships between MSI and small businesses and prepared them to submit the STTR Phase I proposal in 2022.”
Energy conversion requirements
M-STTR Awarded by Oakwood University, University of Huntsville, Alabama, will continue to work with SSS Optical Technologies, a small business based in Huntsville, using its Phase I award to develop a new type of photovoltaic coating (PV). ) cells embedded in solar cells. The coverage can generate more electricity and improve the efficiency of the PV conversion, which can further enhance the navigation of the solar system and other energy and energy conversion requirements. These technologies can improve the efficiency of commercial solar panels.
NASA has selected Phase I proposals for funding by judging their technological competence and commercial capabilities. Based on their progress during Phase I, companies may submit $ 850,000 in funding for Phase II funding for prototype development, as well as the following SBIR / STTR Post Phase II opportunities. The NASA SBIR / STTR program is part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate and is managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.
For more read: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-supports-small-business-research-to-power-future-exploration/
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