Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Precision Guided Parafoil System For Sounding Rocket Recovery, Phase I
Project Introduction
The primary goal of the proposed STARA innovation is to develop and demonstrate a high-altitude precision guided parafoil system that will enable NASA to control the final landing point of the sounding rocket payload, thus reducing system offset, recovery time, and recovery cost. Current recovery methods utilize unguided parachutes, which are susceptible to large uncertainties in recovery locations due to unforeseen variables. Using a precision guided parafoil system deployed at high altitudes would enable the landing of the payload at a defined location. This innovation will include a ruggedized satellite based telemetry system to assist in recovery efforts.
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Anticipated Benefits
The primary purpose of the precision guided parafoil system is to enable delivery of large high-altitude payloads to pre-defined locations for easier recovery. Based on this mission there are a number of potential NASA applications for our proposed solution: - Sounding Rocket Recovery - The precision guided parafoil system can be used for NASA sounding rocket missions as a means to lower costs and reduce resources necessary to carry out sounding rocket water recovery efforts - Suborbital and/or Orbital rocket recovery - enable precision landing of suborbital and/or orbital rockets - International Space Station - enable precision landing of payloads released from the International Space Station - High-Altitude Balloons - enable precision landing of payloads released from high altitude balloons - Aircraft - enable precision landing of payloads released from aircraft. There are a number of potential non-NASA commercial applications for the precision guided Parafoil system: - Commercial Space - Ventures utilizing re-entry vehicles can use this technology to recover their capsules - High-altitude Ballooning - With the recent considerable interest in high altitude ballooning for edge-of-space and ballistic rocket planes for suborbital tourism, our system could be used for the recovery of these systems - Emergency Response Applications - Precision guided systems can be attractive to emergency responders that require delivery of food, equipment and supplies to difficult to reach locations - Industrial Applications - This technology can be beneficial to any industry requiring high-altitude precision recovery and/or delivery of payloads to pre-defined locations - Military Applications – Potential military applications for this technology would benefit any high-altitude precision recovery and/or delivery of payloads similar to sounding rockets that need to be delivered to pre-defined locations - Airborne Delivery System (ADS) for Terrestrial Return Vehicle (TRV) – enable precision landing of the Terrestrial Return Vehicle (TRV) that will enable on demand, rapid return of experiments from the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| STARA Technologies Corporation | Lead Organization | Industry | Gilbert, Arizona |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Arizona
-
Maryland
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Organization:
- STARA Technologies Corporation
Responsible Program:
- Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
Project Duration
Start: Jun 2015
End: Dec 2015
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 3 |
| Current: | 4 |
| Estimated End: | 4 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TX09 Entry, Descent, and Landing
- TX09.2 Descent
- TX09.2.1 Aerodynamic Decelerators
Target Destination
Earth
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