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Astrobotic is one of 14
companies selected for NASA’s Tipping Point solicitation. This illustration
depicts CubeRover, an ultra-light, modular and scalable commercial rover. Credits: Astrobotic/Carnegie Mellon
University
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Ken
Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM – 29 September 2019
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – NASA has announced the selection of 14 American companies for technology partnerships in the agency’s ‘Tipping Point’ program to help enable the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach and return to our nearest neighbor and land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 under the Project Artemis program.
The selections address technology areas such as cryogenic propellant production and management, sustainable energy generation, storage and distribution, efficient and affordable propulsion systems, autonomous operations, rover mobility, and advanced avionics, says NASA.
“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.”
The individual contract awards range in value from 1.3 million to 10 million and have a cobcined overall value of about $43.2 million as part of NASA’s fourth competitive Tipping Point solicitation.
“These promising technologies are at a ‘tipping point’ in their development, meaning NASA’s investment is likely the extra push a company needs to significantly mature a capability,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), in a statement.
“These are important technologies necessary for sustained exploration of the Moon and Mars. As the agency focuses on landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 with the Artemis program, we continue to prepare for the next phase of lunar exploration that feeds forward to Mars.”
Two of the companies selected for ‘Tipping Point’ technology development awards and also been selected by NASA to develop commercial robotic lunar landers – namely Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program.
Here is a NASA’s list of selected proposals, organized by technology area, are:
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – NASA has announced the selection of 14 American companies for technology partnerships in the agency’s ‘Tipping Point’ program to help enable the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach and return to our nearest neighbor and land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 under the Project Artemis program.
The selections address technology areas such as cryogenic propellant production and management, sustainable energy generation, storage and distribution, efficient and affordable propulsion systems, autonomous operations, rover mobility, and advanced avionics, says NASA.
“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.”
The individual contract awards range in value from 1.3 million to 10 million and have a cobcined overall value of about $43.2 million as part of NASA’s fourth competitive Tipping Point solicitation.
“These promising technologies are at a ‘tipping point’ in their development, meaning NASA’s investment is likely the extra push a company needs to significantly mature a capability,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), in a statement.
“These are important technologies necessary for sustained exploration of the Moon and Mars. As the agency focuses on landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 with the Artemis program, we continue to prepare for the next phase of lunar exploration that feeds forward to Mars.”
Two of the companies selected for ‘Tipping Point’ technology development awards and also been selected by NASA to develop commercial robotic lunar landers – namely Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program.
Here is a NASA’s list of selected proposals, organized by technology area, are:
Cryogenic Propellant Production and
Management
• Blue Origin LLC of Kent,
Washington, $10 million
A ground demonstration of hydrogen and oxygen
liquefaction and storage, representing rocket and spacecraft propellant that
could be produced on the Moon. The demonstration could help inform a
large-scale propellant production plant suitable for the lunar surface.
• OxEon Energy LLC of North Salt
Lake, Utah, $1.8 million
OxEon Energy will work with the Colorado School
of Mines to integrate an electrolysis technology to process ice and separate
the hydrogen and oxygen. The molecules could then be cooled to produce fuel for
cislunar transport. This technology could provide a flexible and scalable
solution for future in-situ resource utilization
operations on the Moon.
• Skyre Inc. of East Hartford,
Connecticut, $2.6 million
Skyre, also known as Sustainable Innovations,
along with partner Meta Vista USA LLC, will develop a system to make propellant
from permanently frozen water located at the Moon’s poles, including processes
to separate the hydrogen and oxygen, keep the product extremely cold and use
hydrogen as a refrigerant to liquefy oxygen.
• SpaceX of Hawthorne, California,
$3 million
SpaceX will collaborate with NASA’s Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to develop and test coupler
prototypes – or nozzles – for refueling spacecraft such as the company’s
Starship vehicle. A cryogenic fluid coupler for large-scale in-space propellant
transfer is an important technology to aid sustained exploration efforts on the
Moon and Mars.
Sustainable Energy Generation, Storage and
Distribution
• Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen
Inc. of Windsor, Connecticut, $4 million
The company will collaborate with NASA’s Johnson
Space Center in Houston to develop a scalable, modular and flexible power and
energy product that utilizes new manufacturing methods to reduce cost and
improve reliability. The technology could be used for lunar rovers, surface
equipment and habitats.
• Paragon Space Development
Corporation of Houston, $2 million
Paragon Space Development Corporation will work
with Johnson and NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to develop an
environmental control and life support system as well as a thermal control
system for lunar missions that maintain acceptable operating temperatures
throughout the Moon’s day and night cycle. The design of these systems could be
adapted for crewed missions to Mars.
• TallannQuest LLC of Sachse, Texas,
$2 million
Working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California, the company, also known as Apogee Semiconductor, will
develop a flexible, radiation-hardened switching power controller capable of
being configured based on a mission’s power needs. This technology could be
used for missions to the Moon, Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and other
destinations.
Efficient and Affordable Propulsion Systems
• Accion Systems Inc. of Boston,
$3.9 million
The first interplanetary CubeSats, NASA’s MarCO-A and B,
used a set of cold gas thrusters for attitude control and course corrections
during their cruise to Mars, alongside the Mars InSight
lander. Accion and JPL will partner to mature a propulsion system to
demonstrate the same capabilities as those required for the MarCO mission, but
with a smaller and lighter system that uses less power. The propulsion system
could enable more science opportunities with these small, flexible platforms.
• CU Aerospace LLC of Champaign,
Illinois, $1.7 million
CU Aerospace, NearSpace Launch and the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will build and test a 6-unit CubeSat
equipped with two different propulsion systems. These systems were developed
with NASA Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) funding and offer high performance, low cost and safe pre-launch
processing. The company plans to deliver the flight-ready CubeSat to NanoRacks
for launch and deployment.
• ExoTerra Resource LLC of
Littleton, Colorado, $2 million
ExoTerra will build, test and launch a 12-unit
CubeSat with a compact, high impulse solar electric propulsion
module. Once flight-ready, the system will be demonstrated in-space as the
CubeSat moves from low-Earth orbit to the radiation belts
surrounding Earth. This small electric propulsion system could open up the
inner solar system for targeted science exploration missions, using affordable
spacecraft that range from 44 to 440 pounds.
Autonomous Operations
• Blue Canyon Technologies Inc. of
Boulder, Colorado, $4.9 million
As access to space increases, so does the need
for ground resources, such as tracking stations. With an in-space demonstration,
Blue Canyon Technologies will mature an autonomous navigation software solution
for SmallSats and CubeSats so they can traverse space without “talking” to
Earth.
Rover Mobility
• Astrobotic Technology of
Pittsburgh, $2 million
Astrobotic and Carnegie Mellon University will
work with JPL and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to develop small rover
“scouts” that can host payloads and interface with multiple large landers. This
project received previous NASA funding through SBIR awards. The new partnership
will develop more mature payload interfaces and increase rover capabilities.
Advanced Avionics
• Intuitive Machines LLC of Houston,
$1.3 million
Development of a spacecraft vision processing
computer and software to reduce the cost and schedule required for deploying
optical, or laser, navigation capabilities on government and commercial
missions.
• Luna Innovations of Blacksburg,
Virginia, $2 million
Luna Innovations is partnering with Sierra
Nevada Corporation, ILC Dover and Johnson to prove the viability of sensors
that monitor the structural health and safety of inflatable space habitats
located in orbit or on the surface of other worlds.
“Through firm-fixed-price contracts, STMD will
make milestone payments over a performance period of up to 36 months. Each
industry partner is required to contribute a minimum percent, based on the
company’s size, of the total cost for each project.
STMD develops transformative space technologies
to enable future missions. Tipping Point projects are managed by programs
within STMD and in some cases include collaborations with NASA centers.”
“NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration
program includes sending a suite of new science
instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon, landing
the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024, and establishing a
sustained presence by 2028. The agency will leverage its Artemis experience and
technologies to prepare for the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.”
…...
NASA is developing the SLS rocket and Orion deep
space capsule to send our astronauts on journey’s back to the Moon and on to
Mars.
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
…...
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NASA’s Orion crew capsule for the first Artemis
lunar mission has completed major assembly for the Artemis 1 mission is seen here
in the manufacturing facility at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout
Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in July 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
………….
Ken’s photos are for
sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
