The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will tightly couple structural and rigid body modes. The traditional control approaches to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) will not work due to this coupling. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of integrated flight control algorithms. Phase II research is focused on developing a fully functional prototype tool suite to model, identify, analyze, design, simulate and implement in real-time, linear, parameter-varying (LPV) ASE controllers. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while mitigating ASE effects. The prototype LPV tools will be used to analyze and design an inner-loop LPV ASE and adaptive outer-loop controller for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The LPV designs will be validated in software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to their implementation and flight test on the MAD-MUTT vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of the LPV tools suite to analyze and synthesize integrated controllers for highly flexible aircraft.","benefits":"The immediate NASA application will be the Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator (MAD), Multi Utility Technology Test-bed (MUTT)vehicle being transferred to NASA Dryden in Summer 2012. This aircraft will provide an experimental flight test capability for aeroservoeleastic control research. Lockheed Marting and the USAF developed this test bed to investigate the use of active control strategies for highly flexible aicraft. The MAD-MUTT vehicle is an ideal facility to use the LPV framework for modeling, identification, analysis, control, simulation and real-time implementation of LPV controllers. The proposed research will develop an integrated LPV flight control for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The performance and robustness of the LPV design will be accessed and compared with a baseline aeroservoelastic system.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will tightly couple structural and rigid body modes. The traditional control approaches to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) will not work due to this coupling. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of integrated flight control algorithms. Phase II research is focused on developing a fully functional prototype tool suite to model, identify, analyze, design, simulate and implement in real-time, linear, parameter-varying (LPV) ASE controllers. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while mitigating ASE effects. The prototype LPV tools will be used to analyze and design an inner-loop LPV ASE and adaptive outer-loop controller for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The LPV designs will be validated in software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to their implementation and flight test on the MAD-MUTT vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of the LPV tools suite to analyze and synthesize integrated controllers for highly flexible aircraft.","benefits":"The immediate NASA application will be the Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator (MAD), Multi Utility Technology Test-bed (MUTT)vehicle being transferred to NASA Dryden in Summer 2012. This aircraft will provide an experimental flight test capability for aeroservoeleastic control research. Lockheed Marting and the USAF developed this test bed to investigate the use of active control strategies for highly flexible aicraft. The MAD-MUTT vehicle is an ideal facility to use the LPV framework for modeling, identification, analysis, control, simulation and real-time implementation of LPV controllers. The proposed research will develop an integrated LPV flight control for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The performance and robustness of the LPV design will be accessed and compared with a baseline aeroservoelastic system.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill present and future aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will result in structural modes being in the same frequency range as the rigid body modes. The traditional non-adaptive control design approach to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) interaction of decoupling the rigid body and structural dynamics will not work. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of the flight control, load alleviation and flutter suppression algorithms. The Phase I and Phase II research will focus on applying and extending LPV techniques to model, design, analyze and simulate control algorithms for flexible aircraft. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while retaining the load alleviation and flutter suppression characteristics of the nominally augmented aircraft. Phase I will develop a prototype LPV framework for modeling, analysis, control and simulation and Phase II will develop a comprehensive LPV software tool suite.","benefits":"Non-NASA commercial applications fall under two categories: (1) Uninhabited aerial systems (UASs) like SensorCraft, for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and (2) Space, automotive and ship transportation systems. MUSYN or the companies it has worked with have already demonstrated the application of LPV control techniques to aircraft, launch vehicles, automotive suspensions, trucks, missiles and underwater vehicles. All these systems are seeing increased aeroservoelastic coupling due to the push for more efficient, lightweight structures. The software tool develop in the SBIR addresses a unique need that is currently only being addressed by European aerospace companies using proprietary software tools. A Matlab based LPV Control Toolbox would address a need in the US aerospace and transportation communities and complement the robust control tools already developed MUSYN.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will tightly couple structural and rigid body modes. The traditional control approaches to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) will not work due to this coupling. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of integrated flight control algorithms. Phase II research is focused on developing a fully functional prototype tool suite to model, identify, analyze, design, simulate and implement in real-time, linear, parameter-varying (LPV) ASE controllers. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while mitigating ASE effects. The prototype LPV tools will be used to analyze and design an inner-loop LPV ASE and adaptive outer-loop controller for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The LPV designs will be validated in software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to their implementation and flight test on the MAD-MUTT vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of the LPV tools suite to analyze and synthesize integrated controllers for highly flexible aircraft.","benefits":"The immediate NASA application will be the Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator (MAD), Multi Utility Technology Test-bed (MUTT)vehicle being transferred to NASA Dryden in Summer 2012. This aircraft will provide an experimental flight test capability for aeroservoeleastic control research. Lockheed Marting and the USAF developed this test bed to investigate the use of active control strategies for highly flexible aicraft. The MAD-MUTT vehicle is an ideal facility to use the LPV framework for modeling, identification, analysis, control, simulation and real-time implementation of LPV controllers. The proposed research will develop an integrated LPV flight control for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The performance and robustness of the LPV design will be accessed and compared with a baseline aeroservoelastic system.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will tightly couple structural and rigid body modes. The traditional control approaches to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) will not work due to this coupling. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of integrated flight control algorithms. Phase II research is focused on developing a fully functional prototype tool suite to model, identify, analyze, design, simulate and implement in real-time, linear, parameter-varying (LPV) ASE controllers. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while mitigating ASE effects. The prototype LPV tools will be used to analyze and design an inner-loop LPV ASE and adaptive outer-loop controller for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The LPV designs will be validated in software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to their implementation and flight test on the MAD-MUTT vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of the LPV tools suite to analyze and synthesize integrated controllers for highly flexible aircraft.","benefits":"The immediate NASA application will be the Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator (MAD), Multi Utility Technology Test-bed (MUTT)vehicle being transferred to NASA Dryden in Summer 2012. This aircraft will provide an experimental flight test capability for aeroservoeleastic control research. Lockheed Marting and the USAF developed this test bed to investigate the use of active control strategies for highly flexible aicraft. The MAD-MUTT vehicle is an ideal facility to use the LPV framework for modeling, identification, analysis, control, simulation and real-time implementation of LPV controllers. The proposed research will develop an integrated LPV flight control for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The performance and robustness of the LPV design will be accessed and compared with a baseline aeroservoelastic system.The President’s 2010 National Space Policy:
“A robust and competitive commercial space sector is vital to continued progress in space. The United States is committed to encouraging and facilitating the growth of a U.S. commercial space sector that supports U.S. needs, is globally competitive, and advances U.S. leadership in the generation of new markets and innovation-driven entrepreneurship.”
Flight Opportunities directly answers the call of the President’s policy through the acquisition of suborbital launch services on commercial suborbital launch vehicles. By purchasing flight opportunities on U.S. commercial vehicles the Flight Opportunities program is encouraging and facilitating the growth of this market while simultaneously providing pathways to advance the technology readiness of a wide range of new launch vehicle and space technologies.
One of the greatest challenges NASA faces in incorporating advanced technologies into future missions is bridging the mid-technology readiness level (TRL) (4-7) gap (or “valley of death”), between component or prototype testing in a lab or ground facility setting, and the final infusion of a new technology into critical path exploration or science mission development. To cross this gap, the proposed new technology must pass system level testing in a relevant operational environment. Maturing a space technology to flight readiness status through relevant environment testing is a significant challenge from cost, schedule, and technical risk perspectives.
FO has its lineage from the former Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) of FY09, specifically the Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology (FAST) project and the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) project. The FAST and CRuSR activities are continued within the FO Program, as the parabolic and suborbital, flight campaigns, respectively. The flights will provide opportunities to expose new technologies to low-g environments and/or high altitude environments. The intent is to demonstrate and mature various technologies for future applications. These emerging technologies will come from the nine other programs within the Space Technology Mission Directorate, from the other Mission Directorates and external sources (other Government Agencies, Academia, and Commercial Industries.
The NASA Flight Opportunities (FO) Program has been established as a part of the Space Technologies Mission Directorate (STMD) to rapidly develop, demonstrate and infuse revolutionary, high-payoff technologies through transparent, collaborative partnerships, expanding the boundaries of the aerospace enterprise by providing the nation’s investments in space technologies to make a difference in the world around us. FO focuses on maturation of technologies that are of benefit to multiple customers, to flight readiness status with an outcome of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 or higher. These crosscutting capabilities are those that advance multiple future aerospace missions, including flight projects where near-space or in-space demonstration is needed before the capability can transition to direct mission application. Maturing technologies to a higher TRL status through relevant flight opportunities testing is a significant challenge from both a cost and risk perspective.
","programId":72,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36656,"title":"Flight Opportunities","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"FO"},"description":"The main outcome of the proposed effort is the validation of a novel electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) technology to intensify and control two-phase heat transfer in microgravity. Flight tests will advance the EHD technology maturity from Proof of Concept (TRL 3-4) to Demonstration in Microgravity (TRL 6-7). The work is related to the major technical challenges prioritized by NASA Space Technology Roadmap, Technology Area 14 Thermal Management Systems and NASA Space Technology Grand Challenges.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will tightly couple structural and rigid body modes. The traditional control approaches to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) will not work due to this coupling. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of integrated flight control algorithms. Phase II research is focused on developing a fully functional prototype tool suite to model, identify, analyze, design, simulate and implement in real-time, linear, parameter-varying (LPV) ASE controllers. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while mitigating ASE effects. The prototype LPV tools will be used to analyze and design an inner-loop LPV ASE and adaptive outer-loop controller for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The LPV designs will be validated in software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to their implementation and flight test on the MAD-MUTT vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of the LPV tools suite to analyze and synthesize integrated controllers for highly flexible aircraft.","benefits":"The immediate NASA application will be the Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator (MAD), Multi Utility Technology Test-bed (MUTT)vehicle being transferred to NASA Dryden in Summer 2012. This aircraft will provide an experimental flight test capability for aeroservoeleastic control research. Lockheed Marting and the USAF developed this test bed to investigate the use of active control strategies for highly flexible aicraft. The MAD-MUTT vehicle is an ideal facility to use the LPV framework for modeling, identification, analysis, control, simulation and real-time implementation of LPV controllers. The proposed research will develop an integrated LPV flight control for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The performance and robustness of the LPV design will be accessed and compared with a baseline aeroservoelastic system.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill present and future aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will result in structural modes being in the same frequency range as the rigid body modes. The traditional non-adaptive control design approach to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) interaction of decoupling the rigid body and structural dynamics will not work. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of the flight control, load alleviation and flutter suppression algorithms. The Phase I and Phase II research will focus on applying and extending LPV techniques to model, design, analyze and simulate control algorithms for flexible aircraft. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while retaining the load alleviation and flutter suppression characteristics of the nominally augmented aircraft. Phase I will develop a prototype LPV framework for modeling, analysis, control and simulation and Phase II will develop a comprehensive LPV software tool suite.","benefits":"Non-NASA commercial applications fall under two categories: (1) Uninhabited aerial systems (UASs) like SensorCraft, for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and (2) Space, automotive and ship transportation systems. MUSYN or the companies it has worked with have already demonstrated the application of LPV control techniques to aircraft, launch vehicles, automotive suspensions, trucks, missiles and underwater vehicles. All these systems are seeing increased aeroservoelastic coupling due to the push for more efficient, lightweight structures. The software tool develop in the SBIR addresses a unique need that is currently only being addressed by European aerospace companies using proprietary software tools. A Matlab based LPV Control Toolbox would address a need in the US aerospace and transportation communities and complement the robust control tools already developed MUSYN.