Tag: SBIR

NASA Selects 11 Proposals for Funding Under the Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program

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WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — On November 5, 2018, NASA provided notice of an opportunity to participate in the Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program (CCRPP), which is intended to accelerate the transition of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funded technologies to commercialization.

The funding is a combination of additional SBIR/STTR investment and NASA or non-NASA entity investment. The SBIR/STTR Program will match between $500,000 and $1 million of the external investment.

Eleven applications have been selected for negotiation and award for a total of $8.8M in funding. A list of selected projects and firms can be found below:

Firm Name

Title

Adventium Enterprises, LLC

Continuous Architecture Framework for Fault Management Assessment and Design (CAFFMAD)

ColdQuanta, Inc.

Cold Atom Source System

Deployable Space Systems, Inc.

Affordable Maximum Performance Solar Array for NASA and Commercial Missions

EM Photonics, Inc.

Enhanced Detection, Tracking, and Integration for the ATCOM Video Processing Platform

Environmental and Life Support Technology

Clean Catalysts- Porous Solid Carbon Manufacturing System

IntelliEPI IR, Inc.

Advanced Type II SLS Materials for Large Format FPA Applications

M4 Engineering, Inc.

Physics-Based Conceptual Design Tools

Metamagnetics, Inc.

Small, Low Mass, Self-Biased Circulators for Aerospace Phased Array Radar Systems

MicroLink Devices, Inc.

High-Volume Production of Lightweight, Multi-Junction Solar Cells Using 6-inch GaAs

Skyre, Inc.

6 CFM Electrochemical Hydrogen Pump and Compressor

Techshot, Inc.

Cell Reprogramming Facility

 

Tethers Unlimited Aims to Put SPIDERs on Mars

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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

During the 1970’s, David Bowie sang about Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars. If Tethers Unlimited has its way, the Red Planet will be crawling with them.

Earlier this month, NASA selected the Bothell, Washington-based company for a small business award to work on its Sensing and Positioning in Deep Environments with Retrieval (SPIDER) surface exploration system.

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Masten Space Systems Gets NASA Funding for Lunar Research

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Astronauts on a future lunar walk. (Credit: NASA)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA has selected Mojave’s Masten Space Systems for two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I awards for work focused on helping the space agency return astronauts to the moon. The awards are worth up to $125,000 apiece.

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Final Frontier Design Receives NASA Funding to Develop Lunar Boot

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NASA has selected Final Frontier Design of Brooklyn, NY, for funding to develop an advanced boot for astronauts to walk on the moon.

The award under the space agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I program is worth $125,000 over six months.

The Surface Space Suit Boot (SSSB) “leverages decades of Lunar boot development and includes an advanced ankle mobility joint, a unique closure system, next generation outer garment materials, and an advanced polymer that will withstand the harsh environment of the moon,” the company said in its proposal summary.

The proposal summary follows.

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NASA Selects Astrobotic for Two SBIR Awards

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Polaris rover (Credit: Astrobotic)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Astrobotic Technologies will develop a compact ground penetrating radar antenna to peer below the surfaces of other worlds and a low-power navigation system for use on CubeSats with the help of NASA funding.

The space agency selected the Pittsburgh-based company for two awards under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Each award is worth up to $125,000 over six months.

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NASA Funds Made in Space’s Mobile Welding Project

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Made in Space (MIS) will pursue the development of a space laser welding system with the help of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“MIS proposes to develop a Mobile End-effector Laser Device (MELD) capable of on-site, on-demand joining and repair of space structures. MELD is a self-sufficient end-effector that interfaces with a robotic arm and uses the arm for mobility,” the company said in its proposal summary.

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NASA Funds Techshot to Develop In-Space Manufacturing of Microfluidic Chips

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NASA has selected Techshot for funding to develop in-space manufacturing of microfluidic chips — aka, organs on chips (OOC) — for use in biological research aboard the International Space Station.

The space agency selected the project for funding under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I program. The six-month contract is worth a maximum of $125,000.

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NASA Selects Small Spacecraft Technologies for Funding

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New high-impulse thrusters and communications technologies that will facilitate missions by groups of spacecraft beyond Earth orbit are among the small satellite technologies that NASA is funding under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The space agency selected six research and development projects for SBIR Phase II funding. The awards are for up to $750,000 over two years.

Three of the proposals focus on small satellite thrusters. Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation (AASC) of Oakland, California will continue to develop its high-impulse metal plasma thrusters for use on CubeSat missions.

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NASA Selects In-Space and Advanced 3-D Manufacturing Technologies for Funding

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NASA is continuing to encourage the use of 3-D manufacturing technologies for use on Earth and in space through the space agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

In addition to funding two projects by Made in Space focused on glass alloys and structures for advanced interferometery missions, the space agency also selected six other additive manufacturing proposals for funding under SBIR Phase II.

The awards, which are worth up to $750,000 for as long as two years, are focused on expanding additive manufacturing (AM) to include the use of stronger plastics and metals as well plastics recycling and improving production on Earth. One company is developing the ability to print next-generation electronics aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Several of the proposals are developing materials and technologies that would be used in a new additive manufacturing system called FabLab that NASA will launch to the station. The new printer would use multiple materials instead of just plastic feed stock to print parts and tools.

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NASA Awards Research Funding for In-Situ Resource Utilization on Mars

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NASA’s InSight spacecraft flipped open the lens cover on its Instrument Context Camera (ICC) on Nov. 30, 2018, and captured this view of Mars. Located below the deck of the InSight lander, the ICC has a fisheye view, creating a curved horizon. Some clumps of dust are still visible on the camera’s lens. One of the spacecraft’s footpads can be seen in the lower right corner. The seismometer’s tether box is in the upper left corner. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Although NASA has the moon clearly in its sight, the space agency continues to fund technologies that will use in-situ resources to facilitate human missions to Mars.

NASA has selected OxEon Energy and Bob Zubrin’s Pioneer Astronautics for Small Business Innovation Research Phase II (SBIR) awards for technology that would extract carbon dioxide from the martian atmosphere to produce oxygen and fuel. The contracts are worth up to $750,000 over two years.

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Bob Zubrin’s Pioneer Astronautics Selected for NASA SBIR Phase II Awards

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NASA has selected Bob Zubrin’s Pioneer Astronautics for two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II awards to continue developing technologies to further human missions to deep space and  Mars. Each award is worth up to $750,000 over two years.

“The Advanced Organic Waste Gasifier (AOWG) is a technology designed to convert organic wastes generated during human spaceflight into clean water for mission consumables and gases suitable for venting to minimize vehicle mass for Mars transit and return missions,” the company said in a proposal summary.

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NASA Selects Paragon for SBIR Phase II Award

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Paragon Space Development Corporation will continue to developed an improved system to remove liquid condensation from the air for use on the International Space Station and future crewed vehicles beyond low Earth orbit under a NASA grant.

NASA has selected the Tuscon, Ariz.-based company for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award to continue work on the COndensate Separator for Microgravity Conditions (COSMIC) device. The contract is worth up to $750,000 over two years.

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Made in Space Selected for Two NASA SBIR Phase II Awards

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Made in Space will continue to pursue the development of advanced glass alloys and 3-D manufactured structures for space interferometry missions under a pair of contract awards from NASA.

The space agency selected the additive-manufacturing company for awards under phase II of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The contracts are worth a maximum of $750,000 apiece for up to two years.

“The next step in the industrialization of LEO is the formulation of base materials, such as specialty glasses, that can be refined into higher value products in microgravity,” the company said in a summary of its proposal. “The Glass Alloy Manufacturing Machine (GAMMA) is an experimental system designed to investigate how these materials form without the effects of gravity-induced flows and inform process improvements for commercial product development.”

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NASA Awards $106 Million to US Small Businesses for Technology Development

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MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — Managing pilotless aircraft and solar panels that could help humans live on the Moon and Mars are among the technologies NASA is looking to develop with small business awards totaling $106 million. In all, NASA has selected 142 proposals from 129 U.S. small businesses from 28 states and the District of Columbia to receive Phase II contracts as part the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“Small businesses play an important role in our science and exploration endeavors,” said Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “NASA’s diverse community of partners, including small businesses across the country, helps us achieve our mission and cultivate the U.S. economy. Their innovations will help America land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024, establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface a few years later, and pursue exciting opportunities for going to Mars and beyond.”

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NASA Offers Four New Space Tech Opportunities

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Contrasted against the stark, crater-marked lunar surface, the Earth is seen rising above the moon on Dec. 24, 1968. As Apollo 8 orbited the moon, Earth is 240,000 miles away. The sunset terminator is seen crossing Africa. (Credits: NASA/Bill Anders)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — The nation’s sights are set on returning to and exploring the Moon, and advanced technology will lead the way. Four new technology-focused NASA solicitations give researchers and U.S. companies the opportunity to study, develop and test capabilities for future missions. These investments in revolutionary technologies fuel tomorrow’s innovation and space economy.
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