Fo Ar Fy11 - 13

Fl i ght Opportuni ti es
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
www.nasa.gov
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Program Overv|ew
F||ght Opportun|t|es
Goals, Progress & Metrics
An Emerg|ng Industry
FY11-13 Timeline
Techno|ogy Maturat|on
Through F||ght Test|ng
Status & Examples
P|atforms
Profles
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Table of Contents
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Th|s |s the frst Annua| Report of NASA`s F||ght Opportun|t|es program. As
the frst pub||cat|on for the program, th|s Annua| Report |s te|||ng the story
from the beg|nn|ng, the years FY11-FY13.
Oap|ta||z|ng on the .S. commerc|a| reusab|e suborb|ta| |ndustry, the
program |s fac|||tat|ng access to near space for a var|ety of users w|th
greater frequency, re||ab|||ty, and affordab|||ty. ln FY11, we se|ected seven
commerc|a| f|ght prov|ders to prov|de suborb|ta| f|ghts. Through sever-
a| rounds of Announcements of F||ght Opportun|t|es, we se|ected more
than 100 techno|ogy pay|oads to be fown on suborb|ta| and parabo||c
f|ght p|atforms. FY13 was our bus|est year to date: our program spon-
sored f|ght demonstrat|on of 31 techno|og|es from un|vers|t|es, |ndustry,
and government ut|||z|ng 5 suborb|ta| f|ghts prov|ded by Masten Space
Systems and P Aerospace, 4 ba||oon f|ghts prov|ded by Near Space
Oorporat|on, and 4 parabo||c f|ght campa|gns onboard Zero-Grav|ty Oor-
porat|on`s 727 a|rcraft.
2014 w||| be an exc|t|ng year for many of the f|ght prov|ders. They are |n
var|ous stages of prov|d|ng commerc|a| serv|ce: v|rg|n Ga|act|c has con-
ducted severa| powered f|ghts of the|r SpaceSh|pTwo and are expect|ng
to fy the|r frst suborb|ta| f|ght |n 2014; Wh|tt|ngh||| Aerospace |s d|scuss-
|ng range opt|ons for the|r frst suborb|ta| test f|ght of mO|v; OOR |s
work|ng on the|r veh|c|e |ntegrat|on, ground test|ng and frst f|ght of |ynx;
Even though Armad|||o Aerospace was the frst vendor to rece|ve an FAA
||cense, the company went |nto h|bernat|on because of |ack of fund|ng. A
new company, Exos Aerospace, has been formed to carry on Armad|||o`s
v|s|on to deve|op reusab|e suborb|ta| and orb|ta| veh|c|es.
To foster a susta|nab|e suborb|ta| market, mov|ng forward |n 2014, we p|an
to encourage and ass|st the space techno|ogy deve|oper commun|ty to
purchase and fy techno|ogy pay|oads on commerc|a| suborb|ta| p|atforms
of the|r cho|ce. The program w||| cont|nue to fy government pay|oads us-
|ng commerc|a| f|ght prov|ders to be se|ected |n 2014.
We hope you enjoy read|ng our report, and that you w||| agree w|th us that
we have come a |ong way from back |n 2010 when a|| th|s was st||| just an
|dea |n the mak|ng.
Program Overv|ew
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Techno|ogy
Demonstrat|on M|ss|ons
Sma|| Spacecraft
Techno|ogy
F||ght
Opportun|t|es
Centenn|a|
Cha||enges
Game Chang|ng
Deve|opment
Center Innovat|on
Fund
NASA Innovat|ve
Advanced Concepts
Space Techno|ogy
Research Grants
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A robust and competitive commercial space sector is vital to continued progress
in space. Te 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.
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The F||ght Opportun|t|es program d|rect|y answers the ca|| of the Pres|dent`s Nat|ona| Space Po||cy, the NASA
Strateg|c P|an, and Sect|on 907 of the NASA Author|zat|on Act of 2010 (P.|. 111-267}. By purchas|ng f|ghts
on .S. commerc|a| veh|c|es, the program encourages and fac|||tates the growth of the commerc|a| suborb|ta|
market wh||e s|mu|taneous|y prov|d|ng pathways to advance the techno|ogy read|ness of a w|de range of new
|aunch veh|c|e and space techno|og|es.
Creat|ng |nnovat|ve new space techno|og|es
One of the greatest cha||enges NASA faces |n |ncorporat|ng ad-
vanced techno|og|es |nto future space m|ss|ons |s br|dg|ng the
m|d Techno|ogy Read|ness |eve| gap (TR| 5-7, aka 'va||ey of
Death"}. Between |aboratory prototype demonstrat|on, and op-
erat|ona| read|ness for a space m|ss|on, a new techno|ogy must
go through r|gorous system |eve| test|ng |n re|evant operat|ona|
env|ronments. Access to these re|evant test env|ronments has
been cost|y and |nfrequent. The cost of access to space rema|ns
proh|b|t|ve|y expens|ve w|th |aunch costs to |ow-Earth orb|t rang-
|ng from $10,000 to $15,000 per pound for sma|| pay|oads. Add-
|ng these |aunch costs to the cost of demonstrat|on hardware
and operat|ons capab|||ty presents a major hurd|e |n the matura-
t|on of compe|||ng space techno|og|es.
The F||ght Opportun|t|es program addresses th|s prob|em by |n-
creas|ng access to commerc|a||y ava||ab|e m|crograv|ty and h|gh-
a|t|tude atmospher|c env|ronments. The program makes these
Create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science,
and economic future.
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env|ronments access|b|e to sc|ence and techno|ogy pay|oads
from government, academ|a and |ndustry. Suborb|ta| f|ghts pro-
v|de the potent|a| for re|evant env|ronment test|ng at a sma|| frac-
t|on of the costs requ|red for orb|ta| f|ghts.
Encourag|ng and fac|||tat|ng the growth of the U.S.
commerc|a| suborb|ta| space |ndustry
As an ear|y adopter of commerc|a| suborb|ta| capab|||t|es to ad-
vance space techno|ogy, the F||ght Opportun|t|es program he|ps
estab||sh a stab|e customer base for an emerg|ng commerc|a|
suborb|ta| market. As the suborb|ta| f|ghts become commerc|a||y
ava||ab|e, researchers and techno|ogy deve|opers can acce|erate
maturat|on of the|r techno|og|es through more frequent |nf|ght
test|ng.
Support|ng workforce deve|opment
The Nat|ona| Research Oounc|| (NRO} report 'R|s|ng Above
the Gather|ng Storm: Energ|z|ng and Emp|oy|ng Amer|ca for a
Br|ghter Econom|c Future` defends the |mportance of ma|nta|n-
|ng a techno|og|ca||y competent workforce. As noted |n the |eg-
|s|at|ve mandate for the F||ght Opportun|t|es program, and by the
NRO rev|ew of NASA`s Suborb|ta| Program, ut|||zat|on of subor-
b|ta| p|atforms prov|des cr|t|ca| tra|n|ng opportun|t|es needed to
susta|n a sk|||ed aerospace workforce. W|thout an ab|||ty to per-
form these cr|t|ca| re|evant env|ronment tests, not on|y do these
new techno|og|es rema|n on the she|f, but a|so the workforce
that m|ght otherw|se ga|n the exper|ence to emp|oy these new
approaches rema|ns underut|||zed and untra|ned. The F||ght Op-
portun|t|es program br|ngs new opportun|t|es for the next gen-
erat|on of techno|og|sts and space sc|ent|sts, a||ow|ng them to
|earn from rea| sc|ence and techno|og|ca| deve|opment exper|-
ences.
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|o|a|e (57/D. 57/D se|.es as ||e /e|c,'s |ec||o|o, de.e|oome||
a|d demo|s||a||o| e|||e, wo|||| w||| ||d0s||,, academ|a, o||e| Go.<
e||me|| ae|c|es a|d |||e||a||o|a| oa|||e|s |o co|ceo|0a||ze, de.e|oo,
o0||d, |es| a|d demo|s||a|e |e, soace caoao|||||es.
F||g|t Oooo|t0n|t|es FY11-13 B0dget
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o|o|am. (||o|o. O//c|a| H|||e |o0se ||o|o o, |e|e 5o0za
FAST
ln 2008, the Agency`s lnnovat|ve Partnersh|ps Program (lPP} used m|crograv|ty f|ghts aboard the commerc|a||y-
owned a|rcraft operated by the Zero Grav|ty Oorporat|on for the frst t|me to test hardware and techno|og|es.
These f|ghts were part of NASA`s Fac|||tated Access to the Space Env|ronment for Techno|ogy Deve|opment and
Tra|n|ng (FAST} act|v|ty. FAST prov|ded opportun|t|es for emerg|ng techno|og|es to be tested |n the re|evant env|-
ronment, thereby |ncreas|ng the|r matur|ty and the potent|a| for the|r use |n NASA programs and |n commerc|a|
app||cat|ons.
CRuSR
NASA, the Oommerc|a| Spacef|ght Federat|on (OSF}, and the n|vers|t|es Space Research Assoc|at|on (SRA}
began co||aborat|on w|th commerc|a| suborb|ta| transportat|on prov|ders |n 2008 to exp|ore the opportun|t|es for
sc|ence, techno|ogy, educat|on and workforce deve|opment enab|ed by frequent, affordab|e, autonomous and
human-tended suborb|ta| research. Two workshops were organ|zed to further these goa|s. The frst workshop
,`Suborb|ta| Sc|ence Workshop l``, was focused on Earth and Space Sc|ence. lt was organ|zed |n conjunc-
t|on w|th the Amer|can Geophys|ca| n|on (AG} Fa|| 2008 Meet|ng. The second workshop,`Suborb|ta| Sc|ence
Workshop ll`, focused on b|omed|ca| and m|crograv|ty sc|ence. lt was he|d |n conjunct|on w|th the Aerospace
Med|ca| Assoc|at|on 2009 Annua| Meet|ng. Fo||ow|ng these two successfu| workshops, the Oommerc|a| Reus-
ab|e Suborb|ta| Research (ORuSR} Offce, set up by the Agency`s lnnovat|ve Partnersh|ps Program (lPP}, |ssued
an RFl |n December 2009 to gather |nformat|on from potent|a| f|ght prov|ders. The purpose of th|s RFl was to
fac|||tate the shar|ng of |nformat|on about commerc|a| suborb|ta| veh|c|es w|th the emerg|ng research commun|ty.
The frst Next-Generat|on Suborb|ta| Researchers Oonference (NSRO} was he|d |n February 2010 and brought the
burgeon|ng suborb|ta| researchers commun|ty together |n Bou|der, Oo|orado. ln August of 2010, the frst ORuSR
contracts for exper|menta| test f|ghts were awarded to Armad|||o Aerospace and Masten Space Systems, and
|n|t|a| efforts were started to deve|op, |ntegrate and fy a pay|oad rack of NASA pay|oads on both veh|c|es.
CRuSR and FAST become F||ght Opportun|t|es
W|th the estab||shment of the Offce of the Oh|ef Techno|og|st |n FY11 and the Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on D|rec-
torate |n FY13, NASA merged FAST and ORuSR |nto a new|y estab||shed program ca||ed F||ght Opportun|t|es
(FO}. The F||ght Opportun|t|es program was estab||shed w|th two spec|fc goa|s |n m|nd: (1} to fac|||tate the matu-
rat|on of cross-cutt|ng space techno|og|es for NASA`s Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on D|rectorate, and (2} to encour-
age and fac|||tate the growth of the .S. commerc|a| space |ndustry.
Or|g|ns of the F||ght Opportun|t|es program
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64
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Progress On Strateg|c Object|ves
Buy|ng ear|y |ght man|fests
ln|t|a| program act|v|t|es |n FY11 focused on acqu|r|ng commerc|a|
f|ght serv|ces from .S. prov|ders (Object|ve 1}. NASA requested
capab|||ty statements from the f|ght prov|ders and he|d an |ndus-
try day pr|or to |ssu|ng an RFP on March 26, 2011. ln August
2011, NASA p|aced seven .S. commerc|a| serv|ce prov|ders on
lndefn|te De||very lndefn|te Ouant|ty (lDlO} contracts (see tab|e}.
At the t|me, these commerc|a| vendors were at var|ous stages of
deve|opment of the|r f|ght veh|c|es -- some had fown, wh||e oth-
ers were st||| |n deve|opment. Se|ect|ons were made on the ba-
s|s that the prov|der showed ev|dence of a capab|||ty to prov|de
f|ght serv|ces w|th|n a two-year per|od of performance. Three of
the seven prov|ders (Near Space Oorporat|on, P Aerospace,
and v|rg|n Ga|act|c} were subsequent|y p|aced on task order to
prov|de f|ghts |n FY12 and FY13. NASA ut|||zed other ex|st|ng
contract mechan|sms to fy pay|oads on the Masten A-0.1-B
'omb|e" veh|c|e and the Zero Grav|ty Oorporat|on a|rcraft.
Match|ng |ght man|fests w|th pay|oads
The program created three entry po|nts to estab||sh the demand
s|de of the program (a|so Object|ve 1}:
1} Announcement of F||ght Opportun|t|es (AFO}
2} NASA Research Announcement (NRA} for techno|ogy deve|-
opment pay|oads
3} D|rected pay|oads by other NASA programs and M|ss|on D|-
rectorates.
Announcement of F||ght Opportun|t|es (AFO|
ln December 2010, NASA re|eased an announcement of oppor-
tun|ty for pay|oads, referred to as the Announcement of F||ght
Opportun|t|es (AFO}. Th|s announcement makes f|ghts ava||ab|e
for techno|ogy test|ng that benefts NASA`s future space m|ss|ons
through a||gnment w|th the NASA Space Techno|ogy Roadmaps.
The or|g|na| AFO 'umbre||a` so||c|tat|on rema|ns open unt|| Dec.
31, 2014. A|| |nd|v|dua|s and organ|zat|ons, .S. and non-.S,
are e||g|b|e to subm|t a response to th|s Announcement.
Per|od|c updated ca||s were |ssued as new f|ght man|fests or
capab|||t|es became ava||ab|e. Pay|oads were se|ected on a no-
exchange-of-funds bas|s and were awarded v|a a non-re|mburs-
ab|e Space Act Agreement (SAA} or other agreement. At the end
of FY13, a tota| of 6 AFO ca||s were conc|uded w|th a tota| of 85
pay|oads compet|t|ve|y se|ected through th|s process.
NASA Research Announcement (NRA| for techno|-
ogy deve|opment pay|oads
ln add|t|on to the open AFO, the program took steps to |ncrease
deve|opment of sma||-sca|e exper|ments for suborb|ta| test|ng
(Object|ves 1 and 2}. nder a NASA Research Announcement
(NRA}, the program prov|ded fund|ng for the deve|opment and
f|ght of test pay|oads. ln ant|c|pat|on of the re|ease of th|s NRA,
the program |ssued a request for |nformat|on (RFl} |n FY11 to
ascerta|n |nterest from the techno|ogy commun|ty |n us|ng sR|vs
for demonstrat|on. The responses rece|ved for th|s RFl |nd|cated
that the techno|ogy commun|ty confrmed |nterest |n ut|||z|ng the
sR|v p|atforms for techno|ogy demonstrat|on.
ln FY12, the program co||aborated w|th the STMD Game Ohang-
|ng Deve|opment (GOD} program to re|ease the frst NRA to de-
ve|op techno|ogy pay|oads that wou|d ut|||ze commerc|a| reus-
ab|e suborb|ta| |aunch veh|c|es. The program spec|fca||y a|med
to fund techno|ogy proposa|s that cou|d be demonstrated us|ng
the sR|v p|atforms that the program had on ex|st|ng task orders.
nder the frst NRA (NRA1}, the program made awards rang|ng
from $100k to $500k tota||ng $3.5M to 14 proposa|s to deve|op
sR|v pay|oads or capab|||ty enhancements to suborb|ta| veh|c|es
to accommodate pay|oads. A second round of ten NRA techno|-
ogy pay|oads was awarded |n FY13, w|th awards rang|ng from
$100k to $250k (NRA2}. ln tota|, 24 (14+10} pay|oads have been
se|ected through th|s process to date.
D|rected pay|oads
At the end of FY13, a tota| of 11 techno|ogy pay|oads were se-
|ected as 'd|rected`, sponsored by other NASA programs and
M|ss|on D|rectorates.
An add|t|ona| four pay|oads were se|ected as part of the nder-
graduate Student lnstrument Project (SlP} program, br|ng|ng
the tota| number of se|ected pay|oads to 124. More deta||s about
severa| of the 124 techno|ogy pay|oads are prov|ded |ater |n th|s
report.
Fund|ng techno|ogy and capab|||ty deve|opment tar-
geted for suborb|ta| veh|c|e systems
Recogn|z|ng the ear|y stage of emerg|ng reusab|e, suborb|ta|
systems and capab|||t|es for market app||cat|ons, the NASA Au-
thor|zat|on Act a||owed for NASA to fund eng|neer|ng and |nte-
grat|on demonstrat|ons (Object|ve 3}. W|th commerc|a| vert|ca|
takeoff and vert|ca| |and|ng (vTv|} rocket veh|c|es ava||ab|e |n
the marketp|ace, the program funded the deve|opment of vTv|
capab|||t|es to host pay|oads for |and|ng techno|ogy demonstra-
t|ons.
Draper |aborator|es was se|ected to deve|op a commerc|a|
vert|ca| test capab|||ty that cou|d host a var|ety of research and
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- Raise the operational readiness of the fight vehicles by buying early fight manifests
- match these fight slots with solicitations for payloads that use the fights to advance future space technologies
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- Provide competitive funding for the development of technology payloads that would use suborbital fights for
technology demonstration purposes or to perform other space technology objectives
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- Provide competitive funding for the direct technology and capability development targeted for suborbital
vehicle systems.
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NASA Seeks Proposa|s For Techno|ogy F||ght Demonstrat|ons And Informat|on About
Suborb|ta| F||ght Serv|ces, NASA press re|ease 10-345, Dec 21, 2010
;NASA |s see||ng o|ooosa|s f|om |esea|c|e|s |nte|ested |n test|ng new tec|no|og|es d0||ng s0oo|o|ta| h|g|ts.
7|e agency a|so |s |eq0est|ng |nfo|mat|on f|om comme|c|a| s0oo|o|ta| |e0sao|e |a0nc| ve||c|e o|ov|de|s and
comme|c|a| oay|oad |nteg|ato|s aoo0t ca||y|ng t|e tec|no|ogy oay|oads j...j 7|e so||c|tat|on |s oe|ng made
oy NASA's F||g|t Oooo|t0n|t|es o|og|am, w||c| |s des|gned to foste| deve|ooment of a comme|c|a| |e0sao|e
s0oo|o|ta| t|ansoo|tat|on |nd0st|y w|||e deve|oo|ng new tec|no|og|es and |mo|ov|ng m|c|og|av|ty |esea|c|. W|en
ava||ao|e, s0c| |e0sao|e ve||c|es w||| o|ov|de |owe|-cost, mo|e f|eq0ent, and mo|e |e||ao|e access to soace."
|tto://www.nasa.gov/|ome/|qnews/2010/dec/HO_10-345_F||g|t_Ooo.|tm|
Co|||ac|ed F|||| 5e|.|ce ||o.|de|s 2011-2013 (|D|O1
(|D|O = ||de/|||e De||.e|, ||de/|||e O0a||||, co|||ac|
INSIDE NASA WIDER COMMUNITY
6;
5||s des||a|e a|eas o/ ||e /o|a.e /|| a|d 5oace |o|| c|osed || o|eoa|a||o| /o| a
/||| o/ /as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems' `/-0.1-S òmo|e (||o|o. ^/5//C|||s Sa|e|
Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on D|rectorate (STMD|
The program sponsored two NASA Research Announcements
(NRA1 and NRA2} |n co||aborat|on w|th STMD`s Game Ohang|ng
Deve|opment program. The Game Ohang|ng Deve|opment program
|s mon|tor|ng the progress of these se|ected pay|oad deve|opments
and the|r potent|a| beneft to Agency needs.
Sc|ence M|ss|on D|rectorate (SMD|
ln support of the Sc|ence M|ss|on D|rectorate (SMD}, the program
has been |nc|uded as a potent|a| source for f|ght opportun|t|es
on ava||ab|e p|atforms |n the fo||ow|ng so||c|tat|ons: Research
Opportun|t|es |n Space and Earth Sc|ences (ROSES; 2010-to-
date}, Hands-on Project Exper|ence (HOPE; 2011-to-date}, Earth
Sc|ences Techno|ogy Offce (ESTO} NRA for ln-Space va||dat|on of
Earth Sc|ence Techno|og|es (lnvEST; 2011}, and the ndergraduate
Student lnstrument Project (SlP; 2012}. ln 2013, the frst 4
pay|oads were se|ected |nto the program from the SlP program.
Human Exp|orat|on and Operat|ons M|ss|on
D|rectorate (HEOMD|
The program tested software or|g|na||y deve|oped by HEOMD
for robot|c |unar |anders on the Masten Space Systems A-
0.1-B 'omb|e" veh|c|e. ln FY12, HEOMD so||c|ted ||fe sc|ences
m|crograv|ty research pay|oads that cou|d ut|||ze var|ous f|ght
p|atforms |nc|ud|ng commerc|a| suborb|ta| veh|c|es ava||ab|e
through F||ght Opportun|t|es (NASA Research Announcement
NNJ12ZSA002N - Research and Techno|ogy Deve|opment to
Support Orew Hea|th and Performance |n Space Exp|orat|on
M|ss|ons}.
Operat|ona||y Respons|ve Space/A|r Force Research
Laboratory (ORS/AFRL|
The program co||aborated w|th the n|ted States A|r Force
Offce of Operat|ona||y Respons|ve Space (ORS} to r|deshare on
an ORS suborb|ta| f|ght on P Aerospace Space-|oft 6 to fy
the Suborb|ta| F||ght Env|ronment Mon|tor (SFEM}. ln return, the
program agreed to man|fest an ORS pay|oad, G|oba| Pos|t|on|ng
Beacon, on P Aerospace Space-|oft 7, wh|ch successfu||y
|aunched |n May 2013. The program expects to cont|nue such
partnersh|ps to share r|des |n the future.
Federa| Av|at|on Adm|n|strat|on (FAA|
The program has estab||shed a fru|tfu| co||aborat|on w|th the FAA
Oommerc|a| Space Transportat|on offce (FAA/AST}. Over the
three years, the co||aborat|on ranged from work|ng together to
work out the |aunch ||cense respons|b|||t|es and agreements, to
f|ght test|ng severa| FAA/AST funded pay|oads, both d|rect|y w|th
FAA or through |ts Oenter of Exce||ence for Oommerc|a| Space
Transportat|on (OOE OST}.
Educat|ona| Inst|tut|ons
The Program worked w|th the NASA Offce of Educat|on and
the New Mex|co Space Grant Oonsort|um (NMSGO} to |dent|fy
co||aborat|ve opportun|t|es for NASA-un|que educat|on and
research opportun|t|es.
GENlE seeks to extend c|osed |oop performance capab|||ty of
vTv| rockets to he|p va||date |ts capab|||ty for support|ng future
pay|oads seek|ng |unar or mars-||ke approach trajectory env|ron-
ments wh||e demonstrat|ng techno|og|es here on Earth. ln tota|,
the Draper/Masten team comp|eted fve f|ght campa|gns to date.
Co||aborat|on w|th Partners
F||ght Opportun|t|es estab||shed co||aborat|ons w|th severa| part-
ners, both |ns|de NASA and |n the w|der commun|ty (see be|ow}.
techno|ogy pay|oads. Draper tasked Masten Space Systems to
prov|de the veh|c|e to support and demonstrate f|ght capab|||t|es
ut|||z|ng Draper`s GENlE (Gu|dance Embedded Nav|gator lntegra-
t|on Env|ronment}. GENlE |s an |ntegrated hardware and software
av|on|cs p|atform capab|e of prov|d|ng rea|-t|me AGNO (Autono-
mous Gu|dance, Nav|gat|on and Oontro|} so|ut|ons for |and|ng |n
hazardous terra|ns. The goa| of th|s project was to demonstrate
AGNO techno|ogy capab|e of safe and prec|se p|anetary |and-
|ngs app||cab|e to a broad range of NASA m|ss|ons. ln add|t|on,
Commun|ty Bu||d|ng
The program act|ve|y part|c|pated |n severa| annua| conferences
where both prospect|ve users and f|ght serv|ce prov|ders met
to share |deas and resu|ts from |n|t|a| test f|ghts. These |nc|uded
the year|y Next-Generat|on Suborb|ta| Researchers Oonference
(NSRO}, the lnternat|ona| Sympos|um for Persona| and Oommer-
c|a| Spacef|ght (lSPOS}, the FAA/AST Oommerc|a| Space Trans-
portat|on Oonference and the Oommerc|a| and Government Re-
spons|ve Access to Space Techno|ogy Exchange (ORASTE}.
The program ma|nta|ned a webs|te (f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov}
where |nformat|on about f|ght veh|c|es and se|ected techno|ogy
pay|oads was made ava||ab|e to the |nterested pub||c. A ma||-
|ng ||st (600+ subscr|bers} and soc|a| med|a were used to des-
s|m|nate |nformat|on about upcom|ng so||c|tat|ons and re|evant
|ndustry news.
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
16
ê|| /|ms||o| (|e/| d|aws a |a|e c|owd a| ||e 2012 êx|-Ge|e|a||o|
50oo|o||a| |esea|c|e|s Co|/e|e|ce (^5|C-2012. /|. /|ms||o| o|ese||ed
a |e,|o|e o| |e/ec||o|s o| ||e `-15 a|d Ea||, 50oo|o||a| F||||s.
(||o|o. /|exa|de| .a| D|||
6=
Look|ng Ahead
Over the |ast three years, the F||ght Opportun|t|es program has
been d|||gent|y work|ng to comp|y w|th the requ|rements spec|-
fed |n the NASA Author|zat|on Act of 2010. The program p|ans
to cont|nue the br|sk pace of act|v|t|es |n FY14 and beyond. Sev-
era| suborb|ta|, ba||oon and parabo||c f|ghts have been sched-
u|ed, |nc|ud|ng the frst v|rg|n Ga|act|c SpaceSh|pTwo f|ght. The
program has a|so schedu|ed an add|t|ona| fo||ow-on f|ght vendor
so||c|tat|on and subsequent contracts/tasks w||| be |ssued to the
poo| of prov|ders to accommodate NASA`s spec|fc pay|oad re-
qu|rements as the prov|ders mature the|r commerc|a| veh|c|es to
f|ght status.
Through these act|v|t|es, the F||ght Opportun|t|es program |s
accomp||sh|ng the m|ss|on of the Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on
D|rectorate to deve|op and mature cr|t|ca| techno|og|es, wh||e
s|mu|taneous|y st|mu|at|ng commerc|a| space and enab||ng de-
ve|opment of the aerospace workforce at-|arge. As the program
pursues these act|v|t|es |n FY14 and beyond, |t ant|c|pates meet-
|ng the |ncreas|ng demand from techno|og|es generated through
the Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on D|rectorate, thus a|d|ng |n the
cont|nued growth of th|s emerg|ng suborb|ta| and parabo||c
space sector.
5eo|emoe| 5, 2013. 5oace5||o7wo como|e|ed ||s seco|d oowe|ed
/||| o.e| ||e /o|a.e dese||. (||o|o. //|5 5c|e|||/c
'%03/), $2/3/$#+
wh||e st|mu|at|ng the
Exp|orat|on Techno|og|es
Commerc|a| Space Industry
FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 7O7A/ (FY11-13I
FY12-14 target
789:;8<=>:?@ABC EFGH %IJ 20 30 33 83
- 30 45 60 75
FY12-14 target
78H8K;:?L >:?@AB MGGNC EFGH %IJ 3* 4 4 11
- 4 4 4 8
FY12-14 target
!;B8: OGP<;HC ;P L;PBH8LB 7 7 7
- 5 7 7
Pa|aoo||c f||g|t wee|s tyo|ca||y cons|st of 4 f||g|ts ove| t|e co0|se of one wee|.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
78H8K;:?L C+/Q )8::;;P
1-3 months 4-6 months 7-9 months 10-12 months >12 months
R5S
34S
6TTS
FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14
FY 12-14 target
*PBGHP8: E-+.U V$*7U "?HGLBG<J 16% 31% 31%
- 0% 25% 50%
FY12-14 target
WXBGHP8: E.%&J 84% 69% 69%
- 100% 75% 50%
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
45
46
The fo||ow|ng F||ght Opportun|t|es program goa|s and metr|cs were set out |n the FY12-14 program p|an (December 12, 2011}. The
per|od reported on for th|s FY11-13 report over|aps two years w|th the program p|an.
Program Metr|cs
Th|s metr|c tracks the or|g|n of the se|ected techno|-
ogy pay|oads. lt |s ant|c|pated that over the course
of the three years an |ncreas|ng number of pay|oads
w||| be d|rected to the program from w|th|n NASA
(e.g. s|ster programs w|th|n STMD}.
Th|s metr|c deta||s the ant|c|pated
f|ght act|v|ty FY12-14 vs the actua|
f|ght act|v|ty up to FY13. Sofar, both
the target number of tota| pay|oad-
f|ghts (75} and year|y number of
parabo||c f|ght weeks (4 per FY}
have been ach|eved. Seven sR|v
f|ght prov|ders were put on contract
under lDlO1 (Aug 2011}. At the end
of FY13, four of these seven are
prov|d|ng act|ve f|ght serv|ces. ln
add|t|on, parabo||c f|ght serv|ces are
prov|ded through the NASA/JSO
Reduced Grav|ty Offce, resu|t|ng
|n a tota| of e|ght f|ght prov|ders on
contract.
Program Metric Payloads fown, parabolic fight weeks and total vendors on contract
FY11 7 f|ght prov|ders were put on contract under the lDlO1 contract
FY12 The frst NRA ca|| (NRA1} |ssued |n co||aborat|on w|th the STMD Game Ohang|ng Deve|opment
program resu|ted |n 14 proposa| se|ect|ons spec|fca||y target|ng sR|v f|ghts (of 40 subm|tted}
FY13 The second NRA ca|| (NRA2} resu|ted |n the se|ect|on of 10 sR|v proposa|s (of 41 subm|tted}.
Metr|c: Deve|op at |east one strateg|c partnersh|p or contract per year that enab|es the
commerc|a||zat|on of the suborb|ta| space |ndustry
Program Object|ve Fos|e| Comme|c|a| 50oo|o||a| F|||| 5e|.|ces. |de|||/, a|d de.e|oo |||||a||.es ||a|
o|omo|e ||oo|| oo|||s /o| comme|c|a||za||o| || wa,s aoo|oo||a|e |o ^/5/ a|d
F|||| Oooo||0||||es |eso0|ces
Program Object|ve ||o.|de /|eq0e|| a|d ||me|, oooo||0||||es |o /||| co|d|||o|s ||a| s|m0|a|e |e|e.a|| soace
e|.||o|me||s /o| ma||/es|ed |ec||o|o, oa,|oads
Metr|c: F|y 100% of the |ght-ready pay-
|oads se|ected for |ght on at |east one
demonstrat|on |ght
By the end of FY13, a tota| of 49 techno|ogy
pay|oads were f|ght tested (of 124 tota|}: 37
few on parabo||c a|rcraft, 7 on sR|v p|atforms
and 5 used ba||oons. Of the pay|oads fown on
parabo||c campa|gns, 92% were tested w|th|n
12 months of se|ect|on. For sR|v th|s metr|c was
43%, and for ba||oons 100%. The rema|n|ng 75
pay|oads have not yet been f|ght tested because
e|ther the pay|oad was not ready, the f|ght pro-
v|der was not ready, or the proposa| was se|ect-
ed just before the end of FY13 (AFO6, NRA2 and
SlP1}.
Program Metric Payload pipeline expectation FY12-14
47
!a|0a|, 25, 2013. Fo|me| ^/5/ C||e/ 7ec||o|o|s| /aso| |ec| (|e/| s||e|ds ||s
ea|s /|om ||e |o|se as a| `CO| ae|osoace o|oo0|s|o| e|||ee| |es| /|es a sma||
|oc|e| e|||e w||| a| exoe||me||a| |ozz|e. (||o|o. ^/5//7om 7s||da
An Emerg|ng Industry
F Y11-1 3 T | me | | n e
7HGC?<GPB &K8Y8 C?@PC -.$. .ZBA;H?[8B?;P .LB ;> 5T6T
E?PL:Z<?P@ CGLB?;P RT0J
'Representat|ves of more than 20 aerospace f|rms both |arge and sma|| met w|th off|c|a|s of NASA's F||ght Opportun|t|es program
at NASA's Armstrong F||ght Research Oenter Jan. 25 dur|ng an lndustry Day meet|ng for potent|a| prov|ders of sub-orb|ta|
reusab|e |aunch veh|c|e and pay|oad |ntegrat|on serv|ces." www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/Features/f||ght_opportun|t|es_day.htm|
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October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011
24
4;
!a|0a|, 25, 2011. /|c|e||e /0||a, o/
||e F////57 o|ese||s a| o.e|.|ew o/
d|//e|e|| |,oes o/ |a0|c| ||ce|ses |o
oa|||c|oa||s a| ||e F|||| Oooo||0||||es
||d0s||, Da, a| ||e ^/5///|ms||o|
F|||| |esea|c| Ce||e|
?@.8-8* AB+BH
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-.$.,($%'
Apr|| 2011 May 2011 June 2011 Ju|y 2011 August 2011 September 2011
The f|rst program f||ghts were a cont|nuat|on of the FAST parabo||c f||ght program: three parabo||c f||ght weeks |n the summer of
2011, each on|y a month apart (RGO-01,02,03}. A tota| of 13 pay|oads where f|own, four of wh|ch f|ew dur|ng more than one of
the three weeks, a||ow|ng fast |terat|ve |mprovements to be f||ght tested and va||dated |n a short t|meframe.
'NASA has se|ected 16 pay|oads for f||ghts on the commerc|a| Zero-G parabo||c a|rcraft and two suborb|ta| reusab|e |aunch veh|c|es
as part of the agency's F||ght Opportun|t|es program. The f||ghts prov|de opportun|t|es for space techno|og|es to be demonstrated
and va||dated |n re|evant env|ronments." www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/may/HO_11-147_Zero-G_Pya|oads.htm|
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26
27
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Masten Space Systems' omb|e suborb|ta|
rocket ||fted off the |aunch pad February 2 wh||e
be|ng contro||ed by Draper |aboratory's
Gu|dance Embedded Nav|gator lntegrat|on
Env|ronment (GENlE} system. The rocket rose
164 feet, moved |atera||y 164 feet, and then
|anded on another pad after a 67-second f||ght.
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òmo|e-01. / se||es o/ /||| |es|s o/ ||e D|aoe| |aoo|a|o|, 'G0|da|ce Emoedded â.|a|o| |||e|a||o| E|.||o|me||' (GE^|E oa,|oad
|||e|a|ed o|ooa|d ||e /as|e| 5oace `/-0.1-S 'òmo|e' .e||c|e. C3 /||| (aoo.e. Feo|0a|, 2, 2012. C5 /||| (||||. /a|c| 25, 2013.
(v|deo s||||s. /as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems, |||os.//www.,o0|0oe.com/0se|/mas|e|soace
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soace /|ow| oa,|oad /o| ^/5/'s F|||| Oooo||0||||es o|o|am.

The vehicle performed perfectly from liftoff to touchdown", said UP Aerospace President, Jerry Larson. He added,
This is a proud day for us in being able to display the remarkable performance of the SpaceLoft vehicle with proven
performance, precision, safety, and mission success." www.upaerospace.com/SpaceLoft-6.html
%I65 \3 %I65 \4
Not only did the flights provide valuable insight into their satellite's performance in a space-like environment, but it's pure
gold," Darling says, for student spaceflight engineers to be able to count this among their experiences. We're all really
interested in aerospace careers." RGO-05 participants from Boston University (T0047j, www.bu.edu/today/2012/defying-gravity
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
75
76
U| /e|osoace |a0|c| /ac||||,, 5oaceoo|| /me||ca, ^/ (||o|o. ^/5//|a0| de |eo|
"We are p|eased w|th the |mmed|ate success we have been ab|e to br|ng to NASA`s F||ght Opportun|t|es program w|th our
re|at|ve|y mature |ow-cost p|atform," sa|d NSO Pres|dent T|m |achenme|er. "The program prov|des a un|que w|n-w|n-w|n
s|tuat|on for NASA, techno|ogy deve|opers and NSO." www.nasa.gov/top|cs/techno|ogy/features/nsc_ba||oon.htm|
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'Th|sexper|encewasoneofthemostreward|ngwe`vehadonapersona|andprofess|ona||eve|.Noton|yd|dwe
getdatathatwou|dbe|mposs|b|etogetotherw|se,wea|soobta|ned|ns|ght|ntothebehav|orofourhardware|n
|tsfutureenv|ronment|nthezero-gofspace."RGO-10 part|c|pant EdwardOheung,JacksonandTu|| (T0060}
O| !a|0a|, 20, 2013, ||e êw /ex|co ||s|||0|e o/ /|||| a|d 7ec||o|o, (^/7 |eam |a0|c|ed
a ||| a||||0de oa||oo| oa,|oad s0ooo||ed o, F|||| Oooo||0||||es. 7|e |a0|c| se|.|ces we|e
o|o.|ded o, êa| 5oace Co|oo|a||o| /|om a s||e a| /ad|as (O| a||oo||. 7|e oa,|oad ca||,||
a |0moe| o/ s||0c|0|a| |ea||| mo|||o||| (5|/ exoe||me||s was |a0|c|ed a| 11.07 am |oca|
||me, w||| 1 |o0| a|d 35 m||0|es o/ asce||, 57 m||0|es o/ /oa| a|d aoo|ox|ma|e|, 30 m||0|es
o/ desce||. 7|e oa,|oad was |eco.e|ed 0|damaed. 7|e /||| was s0ccess/0| a|d ,|e|ded a
co|s|de|ao|e .o|0me o/ da|a /o| ||e emoedded 0|||aso||cs s||0c|0|a| |ea||| mo|||o||| aoo|oac|
a|d w||e|ess se|s||. 7|e exoe||me|| demo|s||a|ed oas|c o|oo/-o/-co|ceo| /o| a soacec|a/| 0|||a<
so||c 5|/ s,s|em. (||o|o. /|d|e| Za|a|, o|c|0|ed ||||. O| ||e |e/|, ^|c| Dem|do.|c| o/ ||e F////57
74
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'W|th eng|neers and off|c|a|s from NASA`s Jet Propu|s|on |aboratory watch|ng, Masten Space Systems` A-0.1-B 'omb|e" took to the
sky aga|n |n the Fa|| of 2013. The f||ght on Sept. 20 was the conc|us|on of a test campa|gn to assess the performance of JP|`s Gu|dance
for Fue| Opt|ma| |arge D|verts (G-FO|D} a|gor|thm under m|ss|on cond|t|ons." www.jp|.nasa.gov/news/news.php?re|ease=2013-247
"The Flight Opportunities Program supports both the develop-
ment of innovative space technology and the emerging subor-
bital industry by using commercial suborbital vehicles to test
concepts that could further mankind's exploration and understand-
ing of the universe," said Christopher Baker, a campaign manager for
the program. "The collaboration between JPL and Masten to test
G-FOLD is a great example of how we hope to further the
exploration of the solar system while building
up the industrial base needed to
advance future space
endeavors."
'Student and government pay|oads shot skyward June 21 on a suborb|ta| f||ght sponsored by NASA`s F||ght Opportun|t|es
Program, part of NASA`s Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on D|rectorate. Dur|ng a 15-m|nute journey, the exper|ments sped 74 m||es h|gh
above Earth, safe|y tucked |ns|de a Space|oft-7 rocket." www.nasa.gov/content/sky-h|gh-exper|ments-f|y-from-spaceport-amer|ca
34
7;
5eo|emoe| 20, 2013.
v|ew o/ ||e /o|a.e /||
8 5oace |o|| (/o|a.e,
C/ /|om ||e `/-0.1-S
'òmo|e' o|a|/o|m (v|deo
s||||. /as|e| 5oace
5,s|ems
37
Techno|ogy Maturat|on
Through F||ght Test|ng
S t a t u s & E x a mp | e s
!a|0a|, 11, 2011. /as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems /ac|||||es
a| ||e /o|a.e /|| a|d 5oace |o||, /o|a.e C/.
(||o|o. ^/5//Do0a| /ac||se
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
7<
Future leadership in space requires a foundation of sustained technology advances that can enable
the development of more capable, reliable, and lower-cost spacecraf and launch vehicles.
Amer|ca`s Future |n Space: A||gn|ng the O|v|| Space Program w|th Nat|ona| Needs, Nat|ona| Research Oounc||
Parabo||c f|ght test|ng |s a re|at|ve|y mature market, w|th decades
of exper|ence for NASA and an ex|st|ng user commun|ty. So |t
|s no wonder we found a steady demand for th|s type of f|ght
test|ng. For the newer p|atforms, pay|oads were se|ected as new
veh|c|es and f|ght test capab|||t|es became ava||ab|e. We then
worked c|ose|y w|th the F||ght Serv|ce Prov|der to ach|eve the
frst test-f|ghts for these pay|oads. Some examp|es of these are
h|gh||ghted |ater |n th|s report, spec|fca||y for the sR|v and ba|-
|oon f|ght tests.
Our mandate, as part of STMD, has |arge|y been focused on fa-
c|||tat|ng techno|ogy maturat|on. However, we have not |ost s|ght
of the potent|a| va|ue of th|s new |ndustry for a var|ety of sc|ence
app||cat|ons. ln fact, s|nce these veh|c|es are so new, many of
the capab|||t|es that w||| enab|e sc|ent|fc research frst need to be
deve|oped. Th|s was the very |ntent of the two NRA ca||s re|eased
|n FY12 and FY13. Severa| sc|ence enab||ng sR|v techno|ogy
deve|opment efforts are now under way, as can be seen |n the
overa|| ||st of techno|ogy pay|oads prov|ded |ater |n th|s report.
The F||ght Opportun|t|es program fts |n the m|d TR| techno|-
ogy deve|opment reg|on (TR| 4-6/7}, where a techno|ogy has
comp|eted |ab test|ng and |s ready for test|ng |n the env|ronment
re|evant to |ts |ater app||cat|on. ln the past th|s re|evant test env|-
ronment cou|d on|y be prov|ded for br|ef per|ods (10 to 20 sec-
onds} on parabo||c a|rcraft f|ghts, on expens|ve sound|ng rocket
|aunches that cou|d prov|de severa| m|nutes of m|crograv|ty, but
where the pay|oad (test art|c|e} was not retr|eved, or on very ex-
pens|ve |aunches to |ow Earth orb|t or to lSS. The expense of the
f|ghts and the |ong |ead-t|me requ|red for preparat|on for orb|ta|
|aunches presented a b|g barr|er to the maturat|on of new tech-
no|og|es, a barr|er that became known as 'The va||ey of Death",
where most new techno|og|es ended up on a she|f due to |ack
of ava||ab|e fund|ng. The emerg|ng commerc|a| reusab|e subor-
b|ta| |aunch compan|es offer a cheaper and more effc|ent path
through th|s 'va||ey". Work|ng w|th these compan|es to ut|||ze and
further deve|op the|r capab|||t|es |s on|y a |og|ca| cho|ce.
W|th the estab||shment of the Space Techno|ogy M|ss|on D|rec-
torate, techno|ogy deve|opment has once aga|n become an |m-
portant area of focus for the Agency. The F||ght Opportun|t|es
program p|ays a un|que ro|e |n that |t comb|nes efforts to create
new markets w|th the a|m to mature a broad range of techno|o-
g|es of |nterest to NASA. The emerg|ng suborb|ta| |aunch |ndus-
try |tse|f |s strong|y |nvo|ved |n techno|ogy deve|opment towards
reusab|e |aunch veh|c|e capab|||ty. By serv|ng as an ear|y cus-
tomer, the program d|rect|y supports th|s deve|opment. At the
same t|me, by ut|||z|ng the f|ght test capab|||t|es enab|ed by th|s
emerg|ng |ndustry, NASA |s ab|e to offer f|ght test|ng to a much
w|der commun|ty of space techno|ogy deve|opers.
Work|ng as the Techno|ogy Manager for the program, these frst
three years have been both extreme|y busy and very reward-
|ng. Funct|on|ng as a 'startup` w|th|n STMD and the Agency, we
operated on the |ntersect|on between supp|y and demand. We
|n|t|ated the pay|oad p|pe||ne w|th the re|ease of the Announce-
ment of F||ght Opportun|t|es (AFO}, a broad so||c|tat|on request-
|ng pay|oad f|ght test proposa|s from the commun|ty at |arge.
As we se|ected pay|oads |nto the poo|, both we and our F||ght
Serv|ce Prov|der partners |earned a great dea| about the needs
and wants of the researchers commun|ty, wh|ch trans|ated back
to some of the serv|ces be|ng deve|oped by the |ndustry. Masten
Space Systems for examp|e dec|ded to focus on prov|d|ng Entry,
Descent and |and|ng (ED|} f|ght test serv|ces, |n part based on
the demand we were ab|e to channe| from the research com-
mun|ty.
Our very frst program f|ghts were a cont|nuat|on of the FAST
program w|th three parabo||c campa|gns over the summer of
2011, each on|y a month apart. Made |n Space lnc., a company
prof|ed |ater |n th|s report, |s a great examp|e of how such rap|d
|terat|ve f|ght test|ng can |ead to new crosscutt|ng techno|og|es.
Based on |essons |earned from the|r 2011 f|ghts, they were ab|e
to secure subsequent SBlR fund|ng to the po|nt where they are
now on contract w|th NASA to de||ver the frst ever add|t|ve man-
ufactur|ng (3D pr|nt|ng} test bed to the lnternat|ona| Space Sta-
t|on (lSS} |n FY14. 0,$/*- 1*2-34&
L7:.08#81$ E,0,173
!0|e 21, 2013. Do0a| /ac||se (|e/| a|d ^/5/ F|||| Oooo||0||||es
Camoa|| /a|ae| |a0| de |eo| |oo| o| as 5|7 |ea.es ||e |a0|c|
s||e a| 5oaceoo|| /me||ca. 7|e U| /e|osoace |a0|c| co|||o| |eam
ca| oee| see| s||||| || ||e oac|. (v|deo s||||. ^/5/
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
40
41
W|th the object|ve to support the nascent suborb|ta| market, the
focus |n the frst three years has been on estab||sh|ng the f|ght
test demand. By the end of FY13, 124 techno|ogy payoads had
been se|ected |nto the program (54% of 228 subm|tted} w|th the
|argest subset com|ng |n through the Announcement of F||ght
Opportun|t|es (85}. The AFO served as a good |nstrument to gen-
erate |n|t|a| demand wh||e other STMD programs bu||t up the|r
own |ower-TR| deve|opment p|pe||nes. AFO se|ect|ons were
made based on the techno|ogy`s cross-cutt|ng beneft to NASA
and the spacef|ght |ndustry as we|| as the team`s exper|ence. ln
order to be e||gb|e for se|ect|on, the proposa| needed to demon-
strate that the techno|ogy proposed was at a TR|-4 or h|gher at
the t|me of subm|ss|on. Start|ng |n FY12, two NASA Research
Announcement (NRA} so||c|tat|ons added an add|t|ona| 24 pay-
|oads to the poo| spec|fca||y target|ng sR|v capab|||ty enhance-
ments (14 from the frst and 10 from the second}. Severa| of
these were at TR|-3, w|th add|t|ona| ground-based deve|opment
and test|ng needed before the pay|oad cou|d be man|fested on-
board any of the veh|c|es.
The b|ggest share of se|ected pay|oads or|g|nated from the ac-
adem|c commun|ty (43%}. The .S. Government and |ndustry
contr|buted 23% and 19% respect|ve|y, w|th most of the .S.
Government pay|oads subm|tted by NASA researchers. To date,
fve pay|oads have been sourced from |nternat|ona| part|es, two
from lta|y, one from Spa|n, one from Austra||a, and one from the
n|ted K|ngdom.
S|ea|dow| o, o|||| /o| 2c se|ec|ed U.5. Go.e||me|| oa,|oads.
(^/5/. 21, DoD. 3, F//. 1
S|ea|dow| o, o|a||za||o| |,oe /o| 121 se|ec|ed oa,|oads.
Research lnstitute,
11% (14j
Academia,
43% (53j
lnternational, 4% (5j
Government, 23% (28j
lndustry, 19% (24j
NASA/JPL, 4
NASA/Johnson
Space Center, 4
NASA/Glenn
Research Center, 8
NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center, 2
NASA/Ames
Research Center, 3
NASA/Kennedy
Space Center, 2
NASA/Langley
Research Center, 1
DoD, 3
FAA, 1
L>LBM
&N
L>LBM
)&O
Research lnstitute,
11% (14j
Academia,
43% (53j
lnternational, 4% (5j
Government, 23% (28j
lndustry, 19% (24j
NASA/JPL, 4
NASA/Johnson
Space Center, 4
NASA/Glenn
Research Center, 8
NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center, 2
NASA/Ames
Research Center, 3
NASA/Kennedy
Space Center, 2
NASA/Langley
Research Center, 1
DoD, 3
FAA, 1
Bu||d|ng the Pay|oad P|pe||ne
|a,|oads se|ec|ed (s0om|||ed oe| F|sca| Yea| (FY o, so||c||a||o|
FY11 FY12 FY13 7ota|
US/P
NRA
D||ected
AFO
7/C CG:GLBG< 6R 22 2T 653 E55`J
4 4 (4I
14 (40I 10 (41I 24 (81I
3 (-I 6 (-I 2 (-I 11 (11I
16 (23I 35 (51I 34 (58I 85 (132I
US/P se|ect|on was oa|t of |a|ge| so||c|tat|on oy t|e Sc|ence M|ss|on D||ecto|ate
Hawaii
Alaska
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin
Islands
Each dot represents one of the
124 selected techology payloads
D|s|||o0||o| o/ se|ec|ed oa,|oads ac|oss ||e U5.
FY2011 FY2012 FY2013
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Directed
AF01
AF02
AF03
NRA1
AF04
AF05
AF06
NRA2
USlP1 (8/26/13j
Parabolic sRLv Balloon Parabolic + sRLv sRLv +Balloon
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
42
43
Of the 124 se|ected pay|oads, 59 target parabo||c f|ght-test|ng, 46 tar-
get sR|vs, and 10 requested ba||oon f|ghts. An add|t|ona| 9 se|ected
proposa|s requested f|ghts on mu|t|p|e p|atform types, fve of wh|ch re-
quested both parabo||c and sR|v, and four requested a comb|nat|on of
sR|v f|ghts and ba||oons.
7ec||o|o, /|ea (7/ o|ea|dow| o/ se|ec|ed oa,|oads.
(/o| mo|e ||/o|ma||o| aoo0| 7/s, see www.|asa.o./o//ces/oc|/|ome/|oadmaos
Thermal Management Systems TA14
Ground and Launch Systems Processing TA13
Materials, Structures, Mechanical Systems and Manufacturing TA12
Modeling, Simulation, Information Technology and Processing TA11
Nanotechnology TA10
Entry, Descent and Landing TA09
Science Instruments, Observatories and Sensor Systems TA08
Human Exploration Destination Systems TA07

Human Health, Life Support and Habitation Systems TA06
Communication and Navigation Systems TA05
Robotics, Tele-Robotics and Autonomous Systems TA04
Space Power and Energy Storage TA03
In-Space Propulsion Systems TA02
Launch Propulsion Systems TA01
5 10 15 20 25
0
FY11
FY12
FY13
0 20 30 40 50 60 10
26 13 7 1 3
21
12 4 3
29 3 1 1
S0||d 0o o/ ||e oa,|oad o|oe|||e o.e| FY11-13
S|ea|dow| o/ |eq0es|ed o|a|/o|m |,oe /o| se|ec|ed oa,|oads oe| F|sca| Yea| (FY
The 124 pay|oads cover most of the 14 Techno|ogy Areas. The
Techno|ogy Area (TA} breakdown be|ow shows a c|ear prefer-
ence |n the Human Hea|th, ||fe Support, and Hab|tat|on Systems
(TA06} category for parabo||c f|ght test|ng. Severa| of those are
a|so target|ng the v|rg|n Ga|act|c SpaceSh|pTwo p|atform, wh|ch
prov|des a very s|m||ar f|ght env|ronment, but prov|des |onger
durat|on m|crograv|ty t|me. For sR|v and ba||oon f|ght test|ng,
the pr|mary Techno|ogy Area are ln-Space Propu|s|on Systems
(TA02}, Sc|ence lnstruments, Observator|es and Sensor Systems
(TA08}, and Entry, Descent and |and|ng (TA09}.
One f0|| FY12 oa|aoo||c man|fest (5 oay|oadsI was |ef|own |n FY13 d0e to oad weat|e|
Pa|aoo||c f||g|t camoa|gns a|e co0nted as 1 f||g|t
FY11 FY12 FY13 7ota|
f||st f||g|t
add|t|ona| f||g|t
oa||oon
sR/v
oa|aoo||c
789:;8<=>:?@ABC 5T 4T 44 `4
%:?@ABC FG>;HYG< 4 ` 64 53
13 20 16 49
7 10 17 34
4 4
4 5 9
3 4 4 11
Campa|gn
RGO-01
RGO-02
RGO-03
Xombie-01 (C1-C2-C3j
UP-01 (SL6j
RGO-04
RGO-05
RGO-06
RGO-07
SBS-01
NBS-01
RG0-08
Xombie-02 (C4 & C5j
RGO-09
RGO-10
UP-02 (SL7j
HASS-01
RGO-11
Xombie-03 (G-FOLD 1 & 3j
NBS-02
FY11
FY12
FY13
(f|rst| F||ght Date
July 19, 2011
August 30, 2011
September 20, 2011
February 2, 2012
April 5, 2012
May 16, 2012
August 16, 2012
September 11, 2012
September 27, 2012
January 20, 2013
February 15, 2013
February 26, 2013
March 22, 2013
April 23, 2013
June 4, 2013
June 21, 2013
July 19, 2013
July 30, 2013
August 22, 2013
September 26, 2013
# Pay|oads
9
^
4
|
7
1
2
8
5
|
6
6
1
1
6
1
5
3
|
6
2
4
|
1
1
79
# F||ghts
1*
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
24
Parabo||c
(PL-flightsj
9
4
7
8
5
6
6
6
5
3
4
63
sRLV
(PL-flightsj
3
2
2
6
2
15
Ba||oon
(PL-flightsj
1
1
2
1
5 83 PL-flights total
^
o|e oa,|oad was |eo|aced /o| |wo |ew o|es m|d wee|
` oa|aoo||c camoa||s a|e co0||ed as 1 /||||
]
s|a|ed /|||| wee| w||| ^/5/ Ed0ca||o| O//|ce o| o||e| ex|e||a| oa||,
IDIQ1
1 Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, TX
2 Near Space Corporation, Tillamook, OR
3 Masten Space Systems, Mojave, CA
4 UP Aerospace, Highlands Ranch, CO
5 virgin Galactic, Mojave, CA
6 Whittinghill Aerospace, Camarillo, CA
7 XCOR Aerospace, Mojave, CA
Zero Gravity Corporation
On task
no
YES
YES*
YES
YES
no
no
YES**
1st FO f||ght
FY13 (01/20/2013j
FY12 (11/16/2011j
FY12 (04/05/2012j
TBD
FY11 (07/19/2011j
FO f||ghts FY11-13
4
7
2
11
|
F||ght des|gnat|on
SBS or NBS
Xombie
UP
RGO
` /as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems es|ao||s|ed a co|||ac|0a| a|eeme|| o||o| |o |D|O1
`` Ze|o G|a.||, Co|oo|a||o| ooe|a|ed |||o0| ||e ^/5//!5C |ed0ced G|a.||, O//|ce (|GO

]
oa|aoo||c /|||| wee|s
|D|O1 F|||| 5e|.|ce ||o.|de|s o| co|||ac| a| ||e e|d o/ FY13
|a,|oad-/|||s FY11-13
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
44
45
@,$#8,2 5-,-"5 ,5 86 'PCQ'C&')Q
Active, 52%(65|
Completed 24% (30| Pending, 24% (29|
L>LBM
)&O
F||ght Test|ng Status (as of 09/30/2013|
By the end of FY13, 49 of the 124 pay|oads had undergone
at |east one f|ght test. Severa| of these pay|oads few mu|t|p|e
t|mes, br|ng|ng the tota| number of un|que pay|oad-f|ght comb|-
nat|ons to 83 (see tab|e}.
Overa||, the f|ght rate p|cked up each year. ln FY11, three para-
bo||c f|ght campa|gns, each cons|st|ng of 4 f|ghts, were com-
p|eted w|th a tota| of 20 pay|oad-f|ghts. ln FY12, four parabo||c
f|ght campa|gns were comp|eted. ln add|t|on, Masten Space
Systems few the GENlE pay|oad from Draper |aborator|es three
t|mes, and two pay|oads were fown a|ongs|de DoD exper|ments
on the P Aerospace Space|oft S|-6. The |atter was the frst ex-
per|ence fy|ng pay|oads out of the fac|||t|es at Spaceport Amer|ca
|n New Mex|co. ln FY13 the f|ght rate grew to 13 f|ghts w|th a to-
ta| of 33 pay|oad-f|ghts. The ba||oon f|ghts added a fourth com-
pany, Near Space Oorporat|on, to the program`s ||st of f|ght pro-
v|ders. The ba||oon f|ghts were fown from Madras and T|||amook
(OR}. By the end of FY13 one more f|ght serv|ces prov|der was
added, v|rg|n Ga|act|c, wh|ch brought the tota| ||st of compan|es
'on task order` to fve. Wh||e the frst v|rg|n Ga|act|c f|ghts are
schedu|ed to start |n |ate OY2014, twe|ve pay|oads are a|ready
schedu|ed for the frst of two f|ghts w|th F||ght Opportun|t|es.
^0moe| o/ /|||s oe| oa,|oad (o/ ||e 19 /ow| oa,|oads.
(oa|aoo||c camoa||s a|e co0||ed as 1 /|||
To date, 30 pay|oads have comp|eted the|r targeted r|sk reduc-
t|on object|ve and have moved on to other act|v|t|es (e.g. lSS
demonstrat|on}. A tota| of 65 pay|oads are st||| act|ve. The re-
ma|n|ng 29 pay|oads are cons|dered 'pend|ng`, e|ther because
the|r hardware deve|opment |s st||| at a pre-f|ght stage (e.g. the
NRA pay|oads}, the target f|ght veh|c|e |s not yet ava||ab|e, or
other programmat|c reasons.
F|||| ac||.||, oe| F|sca| Yea| (FY
Parabolic sRLv Balloon
# of total fights fown
#
o
f
p
a
y
lo
a
d
s
1 2 3 4 5
0
5
10
15
20
25
5
4
2
19
11
4
3
1
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
46
47
LDM ) Sas|c o|||c|o|es oose|.ed a|d |eoo||ed
LDM & 7ec||o|o, co|ceo| a|d/o| aoo||ca||o| /o|m0|a|ed
LDM Q /|a|,||ca| a|d exoe||me||a| c||||ca| /0|c||o| a|d/o| c|a|ac|e||s||c o|oo/ o/ co|ceo|
LDM O Comoo|e|| a|d/o| o|eadooa|d .a||da||o| || |aoo|a|o|, e|.||o|me||
7|| 5 Comoo|e|| a|d/o| o|eadooa|d .a||da||o| || |e|e.a|| e|.||o|me||
7|| 5 5,s|em/s0os,s|em mode| o| o|o|o|,oe demo|s||a||o| || a |e|e.a|| e|.||o|me||
LDM R 5,s|em o|o|o|,oe demo|s||a||o| || a| ooe|a||o|a| e|.||o|me||
LDM N /c|0a| s,s|em como|e|ed a|d '/||| q0a||/ed' |||o0| |es| a|d demo|s||a||o|
LDM P /c|0a| s,s|em /||| o|o.e| |||o0| s0ccess/0| m|ss|o| ooe|a||o|s
A
d
jacent: 20% !"#$
%
C
om
p|ementary: 10%
!##$
%
Core: 70%
!&'( "*$%
D|s|||o0||o| o/ se|ec|ed |ec||o|o, oa,|oads ac|oss |||ee
|e.e|s o/ ||e 557|| /|amewo||. (so0|ce. ^/5/ 557||
FO = F|||| Oooo||0||||esj
Co|e ||.es|me|| a|eas o0||||ed || ||e 5||a|e|c 5oace 7ec||o|o, ||.es|<
me|| ||a| (557|| a|d |e|a|ed 7ec||o|o, /|eas. (so0|ce. ^/5/ 557||
Techno|ogy Maturat|on Examp|es
Launch and ln-space Propulsion (TA01, TA02j
High Data Rate Communications (TA05j
Lightweight Space Structures and Materials (TA12j
Robotics and Autonomous Systems (TA04j
Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (TA06j
Space Radiation Mitigation (TA06j
Scientific lnstruments and Sensors (TA08j
Entry, Descent, and Landing (TA09j
Strateg|c Space Techno|ogy Investment P|an (SSTIP|
ln December 2012, NASA re|eased the Strateg|c Space Techno|-
ogy lnvestment P|an (SSTlP}. lt prov|des gu|dance for NASA`s
space techno|ogy |nvestment dur|ng the years 2012-2016, w|th-
|n the context of a 20-year hor|zon. NASA`s techno|ogy |nvest-
ments are des|gned to focus on techno|ogy deve|opment act|v|-
t|es that w||| rap|d|y produce cr|t|ca||y needed m|ss|on-capab|||t|es
to revo|ut|on|ze the way we exp|ore, d|scover, and work |n space.
NASA`s |nvestment approach as descr|bed |n the SSTlP |s char-
acter|zed by three categor|es of |nvestment concentrat|on to
gu|de future space techno|ogy expend|tures. These categor|es
of concentrated |nvestment are known as Oore, Adjacent, and
Oomp|ementary. Wh||e the SSTlP was pub||shed two years after
the F||ght Opportun|t|es program was estab||shed, the portfo||o of
techno|ogy pay|oads |n the program was found to a||gn favorab|y
w|th th|s Agency |eve| strategy, as shown here on the r|ght.
Techno|ogy pro|es
The fo||ow|ng pages prov|de 13 prof|es wr|tten by the Pr|nc|p|e
lnvest|gators (Pl}, deta|||ng the r|sk reduct|on ach|eved as a resu|t
of the f|ght test|ng performed through the program. Th|s |s a sub-
set of the tota| number of 49 teams who performed f|ght tests |n
the FY11-13 t|meframe.
The broad var|ety of techno|og|es and assoc|ated f|ght test ob-
ject|ves becomes apparent |n the prof|es. Some of the teams re-
qu|red a s|ng|e parabo||c f|ght campa|gn to va||date a techno|ogy
as part of h|gher |eve|, cr|t|ca| path requ|rement (e.g. a Pre||m|nary
Des|gn Rev|ew}. Severa| others came |n w|th a deta||ed Tech-
no|ogy Maturat|on P|an (TMP}, out||n|ng a maturat|on path from
TR|-4 to TR|-6 w|th deta||s on the test f|ght object|ves for each
of the des|red f|ght tests. Yet other teams were |n|t|a||y focused
on gather|ng sc|ence data on phys|cs phenomena (e.g heat fow
|n m|crograv|ty}, and |ater came back to test protoypes des|gned
us|ng the |nformat|on gathered.
Techno|ogy Read|ness Leve|
Because of the many hazards |nvo|ved |n space exp|orat|on,
there ex|sts a forma| method for reduc|ng the r|sks of us|ng new|y
deve|oped techno|og|es. To measure the read|ness of a new
techno|ogy for m|ss|on use, |ts progress |s tracked through the
Techno|ogy Read|ness |eve|s (TR|} 1 to 9 (see tab|e}.
The frst four |eve|s (TR| 1-4} ma|n|y address prov|ng that the
bas|c concept beh|nd the techno|ogy |s va||d and are usua||y
ach|eved by ana|ys|s and test|ng |n the |aboratory. The next three
|eve|s (TR| 5-7} are ach|eved by test|ng the techno|ogy |n the
env|ronment for wh|ch |t |s |ntended to operate. sua||y th|s en-
ta||s test|ng a prototype of the techno|ogy - progress|ng from a
component, to a subsystem, to a fu|| system - |n an operat|ona|
env|ronment. lt |s for advancement through th|s range, from TR|
4-6/7, that the F||ght Opportun|t|es program fac|||tates f|ght test-
|ng |n a re|evant env|ronment. Techno|og|es sucessfu||y tested
through the F||ght Opportun|t|es program are then ava||ab|e for
advancement to TR|-8 and potent|a| |nfus|on |nto future m|s-
s|ons. The |ast two TR| |eve|s (TR| 8-9} mark the h|ghest |eve|
of the techno|ogy maturat|on. TR|-8 |s ach|eved when the actua|
system |s comp|eted and qua||fed for the m|ss|on through test-
|ng and demonstrat|on |n the operat|ona| env|ronment. TR|-9 |s
ach|eved when the system has successfu||y comp|eted a m|s-
s|on.
Severa| of the teams perform|ng parabo||c f|ght test|ng have gone
on to perform demonstrat|ons onboard the lnternat|ona| Space
Stat|on. ln genera|, the lSS appears to be one of the |mportant
future dest|nat|ons of severa| of the techno|og|es perform|ng r|sk
reduct|on through the F||ght Opportun|t|es program.
7ec||o|o, |ead||ess |e.e| (7|| De/||||o|s (so0|ce. ^/5/ 557||
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
48
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|esea|c| Ce||e| exo|a||s ||e oa,|oad /o| ||s
|esea|c| o| '||dex|| /ed|a F||||a||o| 5,s<
|em /o| |o| D0|a||o| 5oace /|ss|o|s' |o
^/5//!5C |e.|ewe|s d0||| ||e 7es| |ead|<
|ess |e.|ew (7|| a| E|||||o| F|e|d, 7`.
?@.8-8* AB+BCD8;73- E,3F894-GH
Techno|ogy Den|t|on*
/ so|0||o| ||a| a||ses /|om aoo|,||
||e d|sc|o|||es o/ e|||ee||| sc|e|ce
|o s,|||es|ze a de.|ce, o|ocess,
o| s0os,s|em, |o e|ao|e a soec|/c
caoao||||, (so0|ce. ^/5/ 557||
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de.|ce || soace. /s oa|| o/ a |ec||o|o, demo|s||a||o|,
||e o||||e| w||| s|owcase ||e ao||||, |o c|ea|e oa||s, |oo| a|d
m|ss|o|-c||||ca| 3D o||||s o|-s||e /o| as||o|a0|s.
?@.8-8* AB+BH
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;5
Made ln Space, lnc. |s a space manufactur|ng company bu||t
w|th the goa| of enab||ng human|ty`s future |n space. Founded
|n 2010, Made ln Space determ|ned that the most s|gn|fcant
prob|em for space deve|opment and exp|orat|on was the supp|y
cha|n. Bu||d|ng spacecraft and objects on Earth and |aunch|ng
them to space |s t|me consum|ng, cost|y and |og|st|ca||y com-
p||cated. Made ln Space qu|ck|y se|zed on the poss|b|||ty of us-
|ng add|t|ve manufactur|ng, or 3D pr|nt|ng, as a means to a||ow
manufactur|ng to take p|ace on |ocat|on |n space.
Deve|opment on-s|te |n space has many key advantages. The
fabr|cat|on of some systems |n space wou|d beneft from not
hav|ng to w|thstand the stresses of |aunch. Oosts are reduced
by orders of magn|tude. The t|meframe to create sma|| sate|||tes,
parts and too|s moves from months to hours. Add|t|ve manu-
factur|ng ho|ds great prom|se for many app||cat|ons |n space,
|nc|ud|ng the poss|b|||ty of us|ng |n-s|tu pr|nt|ng mater|a|s from
extra-terrestr|a| resources.
Made ln Space |n|t|a||y performed f|ght tests |n the summer of
2011. Our goa| was to va||date 3D pr|nt|ng techno|ogy by com-
par|ng commerc|a|-off-the-she|f un|ts w|th our custom|zed pr|nter
that was des|gned for use |n m|crograv|ty. Severa| parts were fab-
r|cated us|ng extrus|on-based pr|nt|ng, and the |ayer reso|ut|on,
to|erances, and strength character|st|cs were stud|ed |n deta||.
By mak|ng |nf|ght observat|ons and mod|fy|ng both the hardware
and the software |n between f|ghts, we were ab|e to rap|d|y opt|-
m|ze the techno|ogy for operat|on |n m|crograv|ty.
As a resu|t of our |n|t|a| parabo||c f|ghts, a Phase-3 SBlR grant
was obta|ned to deve|op a 3D pr|nter testbed for dep|oyment on-
board the lSS. ln 2013, Made ln Space successfu||y tested the|r
prototype 3D pr|nter on the m|crograv|ty test f|ghts. Th|s test-
bed |s current|y man|fested to arr|ve at the lSS |n August 2014.
We are coord|nat|ng our deve|opment w|th the NASA Marsha||
Space F||ght Oenter (MSFO}, who has a|so contracted the deve|-
opment of an Add|t|ve Manufactur|ng Fac|||ty (AMF} for sh|pment
and permanent |ntegrat|on w|th the lSS |n 2015. Th|s AMF w||| be
commerc|a||y ava||ab|e to terrestr|a| bus|nesses, research fac|||t|es
and |nd|v|dua|s who w|sh to essent|a||y ema|| the|r hardware to
space.
More |nformat|on: f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/techno|og|es/4
Enab||ng Manufactur|ng |n Space
H||||e| o, !aso| D0|| (||, C7O /ade || 5oace ||c.
DESlGNATlON T0004-PS
SELECTlON MAY 2011 (AFO1|
PLATFORMS PARABOLIC, sRLV
FLlGHTS TO DATE 4 (PARABOLIC|
PRlMARY TA TA12
;7
Deve|op|ng In Space Sate|||te Serv|c|ng and Refue||ng Capab|||t|es
H||||e| o, S||a| |ooe||s (|| a|d D|. Edwa|d C|e0| (||, 5a|e||||e 5e|.|c|| Caoao|||||es O//ce, ^/5//G5FC
The Sate|||te Serv|c|ng Oapab|||t|es Offce (SSOO} at NASA`s God-
dard Space F||ght Oenter, |n partnersh|p w|th West v|rg|n|a, con-
ducted eva|uat|ons of robot|c contact dynam|cs dur|ng parabo||c
f|ghts |n 2011. Know|edge ga|ned dur|ng these f|ghts |s be|ng
used to mature autonomous capture a|gor|thms and enhance
the accuracy of a s|mu|at|on p|atform at NASA`s Goddard Space
F||ght Oenter. Th|s p|atform |s used to support the deve|opment
and va||dat|on of techno|og|es requ|red for future m|ss|ons that
can |nc|ude autonomous capture and serv|c|ng of sate|||tes |n
geosynchronous and |ow Earth orb|t.
Our pr|mary goa| was to co||ect data that can be used to ver|fy
s|mu|ated free-foat|ng behav|or of a robot on the ground. Pr|or
to the f|ghts, the autonomous capture techno|ogy was at a tech-
no|ogy read|ness |eve| (TR|} of 3. Test|ng autonomous capture
|n a re|evant env|ronment (|.e., near-zero grav|ty} ra|sed the TR|
to 4. The f|ghts a|so advanced the TR| of the ground-based
contact dynam|cs s|mu|at|on p|atform by prov|d|ng 'truth" data
about the behav|or of a free-foat|ng object be|ng touched by a
robot|c man|pu|ator.
ln May 2013, we performed add|t|ona| parabo||c f|ght tests to
study the behav|or of a fex|b|e fue| hose |n zero grav|ty. Before
these f|ghts took p|ace, we cou|d not ver|fy the accuracy of our
behav|ora| mode|s w|th h|gh prec|s|on. Pr|or attempts by our
team to determ|ne the behav|or character|st|cs were ||m|ted by
the presence of grav|ty or the damp|ng of water used as a m|-
crograv|ty s|mu|at|on. Parabo||c f|ght tests represented the most
d|rect way to obta|n data that cou|d pred|ct fex|b|e hose perfor-
mance |n space.
Data gathered dur|ng these f|ghts has s|gn|fcant|y matured our
techno|og|ca| understand|ng. We d|scovered how the fue| nozz|e
too| can be rotated and pos|t|oned to ensure safe hand||ng of the
fue| hose. Th|s |s an |mportant step to our comp|et|on of a |ow-
r|sk system des|gn.
The Sate|||te Serv|c|ng Oapab|||t|es Offce at NASA`s Goddard
Space F||ght Oenter thanks the F||ght Opportun|t|es program for
the opportun|ty to perform these m|ss|on-cr|t|ca| tests |n a re|-
evant env|ronment.
DESlGNATlON T0009-P
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 2
PRlMARY TA TA04
DESlGNATlON T0060-P
SELECTlON JANUARY 2013 (AFO5|
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 1
PRlMARY TA TA04
!0|, 20, 2011. /||| |es||| o/ |ooo||c co||ac| d,|am|cs o, ||e ^/5//G5FC
5a|e||||e 5e|.|c|| Caoao|||||es O//ce (55CO d0||| ||e /|s| oa|aoo||c /|||
wee| o/ ||e o|o|am (|GO-01. (||o|o. ^/5//|ooe|| /a||ow||z
(ô| o|c|0|ed
;;
ADA Techno|og|es partnered w|th NASA/Johnson Space Oenter, NASA/G|enn Research
Oenter and the Oo|orado Schoo| of M|nes to deve|op and demonstrate a nove| F|ne
Water M|st (FWM} Portab|e F|re Ext|ngu|sher (PFE} for |n-space app||cat|ons. The FWM
PFE uses a water/n|trogen m|xture that |s env|ronment and peop|e-safe and |s targeted
to rep|ace current carbon d|ox|de ext|ngu|shers on the lSS that can create a hazard-
ous breath|ng env|ronment for the crew. The |n|t|a| work was carr|ed out under a NASA
Sma|| Bus|ness Research (SBlR} grant. The system was des|gned to prov|de versat||e
and effect|ve fre suppress|on aga|nst a w|de var|ety of fre threats |n space env|ronments
typ|ca||y |nhab|ted by human crews. lt was successfu||y ground-tested |n a|| aspects of
manned spacecraft env|ronments except for |ts funct|ona||ty |n actua| m|crograv|ty.
After our proposa| was se|ected |n May 2011, the FWM-PFE pay|oad was fown on a
mu|t|-day parabo||c f|ght campa|gn |n Ju|y 2011. The system was enc|osed and de-
s|gned to measure water drop|et s|ze d|str|but|on and dens|ty |n m|cro-g and va||date
that performance was s|m||ar to that seen |n ground-based tests. The effc|ent transport
of the water drop|ets through an area w|th obstruct|ons was a|so eva|uated s|nce good
water m|st/n|trogen d|str|but|on |s |mportant for fre suppress|on (coo||ng the fame and
reduc|ng the oxygen content of the a|r}.
The resu|ts |nd|cated that drop|et s|ze d|str|but|on |n m|crograv|ty was s|m||ar to the
observat|ons dur|ng 1-g ground tests, demonstrat|ng that our propr|etary atom|zat|on
techno|ogy |s |ndependent of theav|ty env|ronment. ln tests featur|ng obstruct|ons s|mu-
|at|ng pay|oads enc|osed |n lSS racks, the |arger drop|ets of the spray |n both grav|ty
cond|t|ons tended to co||ect on obstruct|ons frst and thus be removed from the m|st.
However, |aser ||ght scatter|ng measurements of the water m|st p|ume |nd|cated that the
dens|ty of the p|ume |n m|crograv|ty was doub|e that seen |n ground tests suggest|ng
that water drop|ets trave|ed more effect|ve|y |n m|crograv|ty. Thus we conc|uded that the
ground tests are a worst-case scenar|o for the FWM-PFE and m|crograv|ty appears to
|mprove water m|st d|str|but|on around objects, a very pos|t|ve observat|on.
ADA Techno|og|es |s now proceed|ng w|th deve|opment of lSS-eng|neered PFE sys-
tems. We a|so hope to prov|de these systems for fre suppress|on on commerc|a| subor-
b|ta| veh|c|es that propose to fy humans such as v|rg|n Ga|act|c and B|ue Or|g|n as we||
as orb|ta| veh|c|es such as S|erra Nevada and Space-.
F|re Suppress|on for the Internat|ona| Space Stat|on
H||||e| o, 7||e||, Ca|||e|e (||, C7O /D/ 7ec||o|o|es
DESlGNATlON T0010-P
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 2
PRlMARY TA TA06
Feo|0a|, 2c, 2013. F||e Ha|e| /|s| (FH/ |o||ao|e F||e Ex|||0|s|e| (|FE |es|
co|/0|a||o|. D|oo|e| s|ze meas0|eme||s || m|c|o|a.||, a|e oe|/o|med ||s|de ||e o|ac|
e|c|os0|e |o o|o|ec| ||e cao|| d0||| /|||. 7|e |o||ao|e F||e Ex|||0|s|e| |s .|s|o|e o|
||e |owe| |e/| s|de o/ ||e o|ac| oox. (||o|o. ^/5//S||| 5|a//o|d
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
56
Understand|ng Genet|c Events Character|z|ng B|o|og|ca|
Response and Adapat|ons to Ear|y Phase of Space|ght
H||||e| o, |oo Fe|| (|| a|d /||a-||sa |a0| (Co-|, U||.e|s||, o/ F|o||da
There |s strong ev|dence for rap|d gene responses w|th|n parabo||c and suborb|ta| f|ght param-
eters that are very d|fferent from the gene responses after days on orb|t. Th|s |eaves a |arge gap |n
know|edge regard|ng the ear|y stages of spacef|ght adaptat|on, and there |s current|y no means of
co||ect|ng b|o|og|ca||y re|evant data |n that t|meframe. Our object|ve |s to repurpose fuorescent |m-
ag|ng |nstrumentat|on deve|oped for Shutt|e and lSS exper|ments by reca||brat|ng the hardware and
data co||ect|on capab|||t|es to t|meframes opt|ma| for parabo||c f|ght and suborb|ta| app||cat|ons. The
ant|c|pated techn|ca| outcome of th|s project |s a stand-a|one, m|ss|on-autonomous techno|ogy that
|s mon|tored by te|emetry and that |s capab|e of record|ng mo|ecu|ar |mag|ng data dur|ng parabo||c
and suborb|ta| f|ght. The ant|c|pated sc|ence outcome |s an understand|ng of the mo|ecu|ar genet|c
events that character|ze b|o|og|ca| response and adaptat|ons that occur dur|ng the ear|y phases of
entry |nto spacef|ght.
The repurposed |mag|ng system, the GFP lmag|ng System (GlS} |mager, has been operated on the
lSS for severa| |ncrements co||ect|ng b|osensor data. The b|osensors are compr|sed of eng|neered
p|ant ||nes equ|pped w|th a var|ety of genes des|gned to report the b|o|og|ca| response of a p|ant,
or p|ant t|ssue, to |ts env|ronment. Data from p|ants eng|neered w|th Green F|uorescent Prote|n
(GFP} reporters can be co||ected te|emetr|ca||y. To date, our n|vers|ty of F|or|da (F|} team has
conducted three parabo||c campa|gns to mature the repurposed |nstrumentat|on techno|ogy. We
comp|eted our most recent campa|gn |n March 2013. W|th our near-term suborb|ta| research f|ght
a|ready schedu|ed, advanc|ng the TR| for suborb|ta| p|atforms was of part|cu|ar |nterest. The suc-
cessfu| parabo||c demonstrat|on of the F|E GlS advanced |ts read|ness to TR| 6-7 for suborb|ta|
f|ght w|th|n a m|ddeck |ocker equ|va|ent form factor.
Th|s work contr|butes to the programmat|c goa| of our |aboratory, wh|ch |s ded|cated to advanc|ng
and defn|ng the techn|ca| ||m|ts of fuorescence b|o|ogy te|emetry |mag|ng, and to ra|se that tech-
no|ogy toward a read|ness for dep|oyment |n any of a number of opportun|t|es. Th|s deve|opment
effort a|so has |onger term potent|a| for sma|| sate|||te and p|anetary |ander app||cat|ons, and speaks
d|rect|y to aspects of the Nanotechno|ogy Road Map (Techno|ogy Area 10}, part|cu|ar|y the deve|-
opment of sens|t|ve, next-generat|on |magers that can co||ect data te|emetr|ca||y, and |n rea| t|me.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/techno|og|es/12
DESlGNATlON T0012-P / T0053-S
SELECTlON MAY 2011 (AFO1| / AUG 2012 (AFO4|
PLATFORMS PARABOLIC, sRLV
FLlGHTS TO DATE 3 (PARABOLIC|
PRlMARY TA TA08
5eo|emoe| 20, 2011. Co-||.es||a|o|
/||a-||sa |a0| o|eoa|es a |ew se| o/
|es| samo|es d0||| ||e 1 |0||-a|o0|d
||oe|wee| oa|aoo|as 1-20 a|d 21-10
o|ooa|d ||e G-Fo|ce O|e a||c|a/|.
?@.8-8* AB+BCD8;73- E,3F894-GH
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
;<
NASA/G|enn Research Oenter (GRO} comp|eted |ts techno|ogy demonstrat|on of t|tan|um water
heat p|pes after a ser|es of successfu| parabo||c test campa|gns w|th F||ght Opportun|t|es. The
GRO team supports the Game Ohang|ng Deve|opment 'Nuc|ear Systems Project` and the 'Ra-
d|o|sotope Power System Techno|ogy Advancement Project` w|th the goa| of br|ng|ng t|tan|um
water heat p|pes to a Techno|ogy Read|ness |eve| s|x (TR|-6}. The heat p|pes are the ma|n
component of the heat reject|on system used on nuc|ear power systems necessary to effect|ve|y
rad|ate waste heat and coo| the power convertors that prov|de e|ectr|c|ty.
The research started |n 2011 w|th the need to eva|uate the grav|ty dependence of thermosyph-
ons |n reduced grav|ty env|ronments that cou|d on|y be prov|ded v|a parabo||c f|ght. The F||ght
Opportun|t|es program prov|ded the necessary f|ghts for the research, wh|ch |ed to new exper|-
menta| data and mode||ng corre|at|ons. The new |nformat|on a||owed the researchers to better
understand the therma| ||m|ts of thermosyphons for use w|th |unar and Mart|an surface nuc|ear
power systems that cou|d one day prov|de e|ectr|ca| power for a |ong term human presence.
ln 2013, the team conducted fo||ow-on research on advanced heat p|pe prototypes spec|fca||y
des|gned for coo||ng the Advanced St|r||ng Oonvertor (ASO}. The ASO |s a power convertor that
uses nuc|ear heat and converts |t to e|ectr|c|ty for spacecraft consumpt|on. The f|ght campa|gns
a||owed the team to prove the therma| performance of two spec|fc des|gns that cou|d be con-
fgured for P|uton|um-based Rad|o|sotope Power Systems (RPS} and ran|um-based F|ss|on
Power Systems (FPS} used |n deep space sc|ence m|ss|ons. Both heat p|pe techno|og|es used
t|tan|um as the structura| enve|ope and water as the work|ng fu|d w|th the requ|rement of trans-
ferr|ng 150W of therma| power from the ASO to the heat reject|on rad|ator. The techno|og|es met
a|| therma| requ|rements |n the|r re|evant env|ronment ach|ev|ng TR|6. Th|s techno|ogy advance-
ment d|rect|y addresses NASA`s need to prov|de h|gher power spacecraft for future deep space
sc|ence m|ss|ons.
Heat P|pes for Next Generat|on Space Power Systems
H||||e| o, /a|c G|oso| (||, ^/5//G|e|| |esea|c| Ce||e|
DESlGNATlON T0014-P
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 3
PRlMARY TA TA14
!0|e 5, 2013. /a|c G|oso| (|||| a|d co||ea0es oose|.e ||e /|ee /oa||| e|c|os0|e co||a||||
||e o|o|o|,oe |ad|a| Co|e |ea| 5o|eade| (|C|5 || |ea| ||oe as ||e a||c|a/| oe|/o|ms a ze|o-
oa|aoo|a. 7|e /||| |es|s o|o.|ded da|a o| ||e ||e|ma| oe|/o|ma|ce c|a|ac|e||s||cs o/ ||e o|o|o<
|,oe |ea| ||oe || oo|| |,oe| |a.||, a|d m|c|o |a.||, (||o|o. ^/5//|ooe|| /a||ow||z
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
60
Draper`s Gu|dance Embedded Nav|gator lntegrat|on Env|ronment (GENlE} adapts
mature Autonomous Gu|dance, Nav|gat|on and Oontro| (AGNO} techno|ogy to pro-
v|de commerc|a| c|osed-|oop sR|v f|ght demonstrat|on capab|||t|es for |unar and
p|anetary entry descent and |and|ng techno|og|es. |everag|ng systems deve|oped
under NASA`s Autonomous |and|ng and Hazard Avo|dance Techno|ogy (A|HAT}
project and used on NASA`s Morpheus |ander, the GENlE system prov|des a prov-
en |nterface for test|ng of sensors, a|gor|thms and other gu|dance techno|og|es |n
f|ght. Th|s a||ows ex|st|ng AGNO systems and future techno|og|es deve|oped under
that common arch|tecture to be tested on commerc|a| sR|v p|atforms such as
Masten`s A-0.1-B 'omb|e".
Start|ng |n the summer of 2012, GENlE was |ntegrated onboard the 'omb|e" ve-
h|c|e and the comb|ned system was put through a ser|es of open and c|osed |oop
tests: O1 (November 2011}, an open |oop free f|ght campa|gn, O2 (December
2011}, a c|osed |oop tethered hop campa|gn, O3 (February 2012}, a c|osed |oop
demonstrat|on command|ng a 50m free f|ght pad-to-pad hop, and O4/O5 (March
2013}, expanded enve|ope f|ghts |n both he|ght and down range d|stance. The O4/
O5 f|ghts demonstrated performance of the sR|v to fy s|mu|ated |unar and p|an-
etary approach trajector|es. Th|s has extended the veh|c|e capab|||t|es to support
future |unar and p|anetary pay|oad demonstrat|ons.
Demonstrat|on of the GENlE Prec|s|on |and|ng AGNO was the frst step |n an |n-
crementa| approach to demonstrated autonomous |and|ng and hazard avo|dance
techno|og|es. GENlE has now progressed from TR|-4 to TR|-6 (system/subsys-
tem prototyp|ng demonstrat|on |n a re|evant end-to-end env|ronment, ground or
space}. Potent|a| future f|ghts us|ng the matured GENlE cou|d |nc|ude terra|n re|a-
t|ve nav|gat|on and |and|ng hazard avo|dance sensors and advanced a|gor|thms
deve|oped by Draper as we|| as demonstrat|on of veh|c|es at h|gher a|t|tudes w|th
GENlE contro|||ng a |arger port|on of the reentry, descent and |and|ng trajectory.
Test|ng P|anetary Land|ng Techno|og|es on Earth
H||||e| o, ||c|a|d |o// (||, C|a||es 5|a|| D|aoe| |aoo|a|o|,
DESlGNATlON T0016-S
PLATFORM sRLV
FLlGHTS TO DATE 5
PRlMARY TA TA09
/a|c| 25, 2013. 7,e S|ad,, o|||c|oa| ||.es||a|o| /o| D|aoe| |ao's GE^|E
/||| co|||o| s,s|em, ma|es /|a| ad|0s|me||s |o ||e s,s|em o| /as|e| 5oace
5,s|ems' òmo|e |ec||o|o, demo|s||a||o| |oc|e| oe/o|e ||/|o//. (||o|o. ^/5/
!0|e 19, 2013. Fede||co Sa||o|amas| (|e/| a|d Da.|de 5a||a<
c||a|a /|om ||e ||a||a| comoa|, D7/ 7ec||o|o|es o|eoa|e ||e
D|/|/5O^ oa,|oad oe/o|e |||e|a||o| |||o ||e U| /e|osoace
5oace|o/|-7 |oc|e|. (||o|o. ^/5/
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
62
The DlAPASON |s a sma||, ||ghtwe|ght, rugged, battery-powered a|r samp|er system that cap-
tures nanopart|c|es |ess than 100 nm |n s|ze. Such part|c|es are hazardous as they can reach the
a|veo|| |n the |ung and enter the b|oodstream. Of spec|a| |nterest are nanopart|c|es resu|t|ng from
combust|on and a|r po||ut|on s|nce they can be an |nv|s|b|e danger to human hea|th |n c|osed
spacecraft or hazardous Earth env|ronments. lns|de the dev|ce, a techn|que ca||ed 'thermopho-
res|s" creates temperature grad|ents to capture part|c|es of opt|ma| s|ze for ana|ys|s. The dev|ce
supports effc|ent e|ectron|c m|croscop|c (EM} and chem|ca| ana|ys|s of part|cu|ates that become
attached to bu||t-|n gr|ds opt|m|zed for these methods.
The lta||an company DTM Techno|og|es of Modena |s deve|op|ng the DlAPASON |n co||aborat|on
w|th the Oons|g||o Naz|ona|e de||e R|cerche (ONR} |n Bo|ogna. Deve|opment of th|s techno|ogy
began |n 1997 when an |nternat|ona| partnersh|p was estab||shed between NASA and ASl (lta|-
|an Space Agency} to deve|op the system for future eva|uat|on onboard the lnternat|ona| Space
Stat|on (lSS}.
A prototype of the DlAPASON was se|ected as d|rected pay|oad by NASA |n 2010. ln 2013, the
pay|oad was man|fested and successfu||y |aunched onboard the P Aerospace S|-7 f|ght out of
Spaceport Amer|ca. A key goa| for the f|ght was to be ab|e to compare nanopart|c|es captured
|n m|crograv|ty w|th part|c|es captured |n a 1-g env|ronment. The DlAPASON a|r |ntake system
was sea|ed w|th an adhes|ve tape 3 hours before f|ght so the part|cu|ate capture dur|ng the f|ght
was from the ground-based a|r samp|e. The pay|oad surv|ved the S|-7 f|ght and was recovered
w|thout damage. Resu|ts ana|yzed |n the DTM |ab showed that part|c|es from a few nanometers
up to about 2 m were successfu||y captured |n a|| gr|ds of the |nstrument. For each gr|d, e|ectron
m|croscopy |mages were obta|ned to eva|uate the qua||tat|ve and quant|tat|ve |nformat|on of the
depos|ted part|c|es.
A more comp|ex vers|on of the DlAPASON has s|nce been dep|oyed onboard the lSS dur|ng
a May-Nov 2013 on-orb|t |ncrement by lta||an astronaut |uca Parm|tano. The S|-7 f|ght w|th
severa| m|nutes of m|crograv|ty prov|ded a |ow-cost opportun|ty to va||date the DlAPASON and
prov|ded c|ear ev|dence that the lSS system resu|ts shou|d be accurate and that a future com-
merc|a| vers|on of DlAPASON p|anned for Earth app||cat|ons wou|d a|so prov|de h|gh-qua||ty
data. S|nce a|| m|ss|on object|ves were fu|f||ed, the fundamenta| qua||fcat|on process of DlA-
PASON was successfu| and the techno|ogy ver|fcat|on of space f|ght read|ness was ach|eved.
Samp||ng the A|r |n M|crograv|ty for Hazardous Nanopart|c|es
H||||e| o, Fe||a|do Cassese (||, D7/ 7ec||o|o|es, /ode|a, ||a|,
DESlGNATlON T0019-S
SELECTlON OCTOBER 2010 (DIRECTED|
PLATFORM sRLV
FLlGHTS TO DATE 1
PRlMARY TA TA08
65
One of the common comp||cat|ons of chest trauma |s the deve|opment of a co||apsed |ung, w|th
a|r and b|ood enter|ng the p|eura| cav|ty (the potent|a| space between the |ung and the chest wa||}.
The med|ca| terms for th|s are pneumothorax and hemothorax. These cond|t|ons are treated by
|nsert|ng a tube |nto the space between the |ung and chest wa||, and attach|ng a thorac|c dra|n-
age dev|ce w|th a suct|on source. The current med|ca| dev|ces used to fx th|s prob|em requ|re
fu|ds, and must stay |n an upr|ght pos|t|on. Orb|ta| Med|c|ne, lnc has created a prototype thorac|c
dra|nage dev|ce that |s ab|e to separate the b|ood from the a|r, and re-|nfate an astronauts |ung
|n m|crograv|ty. Our techno|ogy uses a nove| comb|nat|on of dev|ces that are FDA approved for
human use w|th custom|zat|on to opt|m|ze performance |ndependent of the grav|ty env|ronment.
A prototype of th|s dev|ce was tested over the course of two parabo||c f|ght campa|gns to ensure
that the des|gn concepts were va||d. One ||m|tat|on of the ground based |aboratory test|ng |s that
the m|crograv|ty fu|d effects of the two-phase b|ood/a|r m|xture cannot be s|mu|ated. Therefore
test|ng |n a re|evant env|ronment |s requ|red. The May 2012 parabo||c f|ghts ut|||zed a prototype
system tested on|y on the ground. Know|edge ga|ned from those f|ghts resu|ted |n a system up-
grade to TR|-5 that |nc|uded new a|r-fu|d separat|on va|ves and use of b|ood s|mu|ant to assess
fu|d fows. A vortex separator was ut|||zed that captures fu|ds |n deep v-shaped grooves a|ded
by surface tens|on and cap|||ary fu|d fows. The upgraded system was refown on a Ju|y 2013
parabo||c f|ght campa|gn w|th data capture by d|rect f|ght team observat|ons, onboard v|deo
and photos.

The next step |s to bu||d and test an |ntegrated un|t that |s compact and se|f-conta|ned. The
out||ne and genera| scope of the fna| dev|ce has been determ|ned, however the opt|ma| confgu-
rat|on w||| be based upon the parabo||c f|ght test resu|ts. Repeat|ng the test|ng |n parabo||c f|ght
shou|d be an effect|ve means of eva|uat|ng the fna| dev|ce funct|on. Oomp|et|on of th|s |eve| of
test|ng wou|d g|ve the system a TR| of 5.
Eva|uat|ng a Med|ca| Chest Dra|nage System for Space
H||||e| o, /a|s| C0||||o (||, O|o||a| /ed|c||e ||c.
DESlGNATlON T0026-P
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 2
PRlMARY TA TA06
/a, 15, 2012. D|. /a|s| C0||||o (|e/| a|d D|. G|eo|, |o.acs
oose|.e ||e /0|c||o||| o/ ||e /ed|ca| C|es| D|a||ae 5,s|em
d0||| a ze|o |a.||, oa|aoo|a. (||o|o. ^/5//!ames S|a||
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
66
Support of suborb|ta| reusab|e |aunch veh|c|es (sR|vs} for com-
merc|a| space transportat|on requ|res cons|derat|ons for safe |n-
tegrat|on |nto the Nat|ona| A|rspace System (NAS}. The number,
var|ety and |ocat|ons of commerc|a| space operat|ons |n the S
cont|nue to |ncrease. The current need to ster|||ze a|rspace to ac-
commodate the (more pred|ctab|e} ascent and (somewhat |ess
pred|ctab|e} descent of these veh|c|es necess|tates the suspen-
s|on or d|vers|on of a|r traffc w|th|n a vo|ume of a|rspace. ln the
future these operat|ons must become rout|ne w|th m|n|ma| effect
on other users of the a|rspace.
The FAA |s |mp|ement|ng Automat|c Dependent Surve|||ance -
Broadcast (ADS-B} as the NextGen surve|||ance system |ntended
to augment the current A|r Traffc Management (ATM} |nfrastruc-
ture. ADS-B techno|ogy |s used for surve|||ance by a|r traffc
contro| and s|tuat|ona| awareness for p||ots. Fu|| dep|oyment
and |ntegrat|on |s p|anned for 2020. The ADS-B arch|tecture
|s des|gned to support the current NAS w|th |ntent to support
mon|tor|ng of f|ghts be|ow 60,000 ft. The potent|a| app||cat|on of
ADS-B for track|ng of f|ghts above 60,000 feet |s prom|s|ng and
warrants exp|orat|on and concept deve|opment. Th|s project`s
goa| |s to demonstrate v|ab|||ty and test the funct|ona| enve|ope of
exper|menta| ADS-B pay|oads for suborb|ta| commerc|a| space
operat|ons. Oont|nua|, |ncrementa| progress has been made over
the |ast three years |n matur|ng the exper|menta| ADS-B pay|oad,
ra|s|ng |ts TR| as a resu|t of repeated |ntegrat|on efforts and sub-
sequent f|ghts on var|ous F||ght Opportun|t|es-funded p|atforms.
Th|s research presents the potent|a| for adaptat|on of ex|st|ng
ADS-B techno|ogy to support operat|ons for sR|vs and manned
stratospher|c ba||oons exceed|ng current techno|ogy ||m|ts (pr|-
mar||y a|t|tude, ve|oc|ty and acce|erat|on}.
Demonstrat|on and Eva|uat|on of ADS-B Techno|ogy for Commerc|a| Space
Operat|ons Onboard Reusab|e Suborb|ta| |aunch Veh|c|es
H||||e| o, ^|c| Dem|do.|c|, F// Comme|c|a| 5oace 7|a|soo||a||o| O//ce (F////57
Start|ng |n 2011, an ADS-B pay|oad des|gned for a|rcraft by
MlTRE Oorporat|on was |ntegrated on the Masten aero and
omb|e veh|c|es and fown on omb|e tethered and free f|ghts.
ln 2012 and 2013, an ADS-B pay|oad des|gned for a|rcraft
was 'rugged|zed" by MlTRE Oorporat|on for the more severe
env|ronment of suborb|ta| rocket f|ght, then |ntegrated and
fown onboard the P Aerospace Space|oft veh|c|e, each t|me
w|th better performance. The |essons |earned from these tests
|nformed the des|gn of a new, advanced exper|menta| ADS-B
pay|oad (based on the or|g|na| MlTRE des|gn}. lt was spec|fca||y
des|gned by Embry-R|dd|e Aeronaut|ca| n|vers|ty (ERA} for
suborb|ta| commerc|a| space operat|ons w|th FAA fund|ng. Dur|ng
2013, the same advanced exper|menta| ERA pay|oad was a|so
fown onboard unmanned h|gh a|t|tude ba||oon p|atforms by
Near Space Oorporat|on. Through these f|ght tests, the team
conc|uded that the upgraded ADS-B pay|oad deve|oped by
ERA has reached TR|-7, wh|ch |s |nd|cat|ve of be|ng proven
w|th|n |ts operat|ona| env|ronment. Future test f|ghts and
demonstrat|ons are requ|red to trans|t|on the prototype to TR|-8
(|.e. moved out of prototype phase}.
lncreas|ng|y comp|ex demonstrat|ons of ADS-B techno|ogy have
shown potent|a| to eventua||y perm|t FAA to track h|gh-a|t|tude
ba||oons and reusab|e |aunch veh|c|es |n the nat|ona| a|r space
as they do a|rcraft, though much work (|nc|ud|ng further f|ght
test|ng} rema|ns to be done to forma||y |mp|ement th|s concept.
F|na||y th|s techno|ogy has the potent|a| for track|ng expendab|e
|aunch veh|c|es (E|vs} and re-entry veh|c|es (Rvs} as |t matures.
Future research and subsequent f|ght tests on suborb|ta| veh|-
c|es to h|gher a|t|tudes and ve|oc|t|es fo||owed by f|ghts on actua|
E|vs and Rvs w||| enab|e |t to make progress towards th|s goa|.
More |nformat|on:
SELECTlON/DESlGNATlON MULTIPLE
PLATFORMS sRLV, BALLOON
FLlGHTS TO DATE 2 (BALLOON|, 3 (sRLV|
PRlMARY TA TA05
!a|0a|, 2011. |||e|a||o| |es| o/ /D5-S oa,|oad o|ooa|d
/as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems àe|o. (||o|os. ^/5/
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
68
The advent of commerc|a| space trave| has |nsp|red eng|neers to reth|nk des|gn and op-
erat|on of space transportat|on systems. Structura| hea|th mon|tor|ng (SHM} |s seen as
a prom|s|ng techno|ogy to reduce t|me to |aunch and operat|on costs w|th s|mu|tane-
ous |mprovements |n the safety of commerc|a| space veh|c|es. lt |s env|s|oned that SHM
wou|d be an |ntegra| part of the 'b|ack box" and wou|d record |nformat|on on structura|
|ntegr|ty dur|ng a|| stages of spacef|ght. Oons|derat|on of SHM data |s usefu| |n pre-f|ght
d|agnost|cs, |n-orb|t operat|on and tun|ng, and |n ana|ys|s of structura| behav|or dur|ng
spacecraft reentry. SHM |nformat|on wou|d a|so p|ay a prom|nent ro|e |n space veh|c|e
re-cert|fcat|on for the next f|ght.
Desp|te |ts obv|ous future use, app||cat|on of SHM for spacecraft has not been thorough|y
stud|ed. D|ffcu|ty |n test|ng |n a rea| space env|ronment |s one of the pr|me |mped|ng
obstac|es. Our a|m therefore |s to va||date severa| SHM approaches by advanc|ng the un-
derstand|ng of sensor behav|or |n a re|evant env|ronment (e.g. |nfuence of space weather,
effect of re-entry cond|t|ons and many other factors}.
As a frst step, sensor data was co||ected dur|ng a h|gh-a|t|tude ba||oon f|ght |n ear|y
2013. The f|ght prof|e of the h|gh-a|t|tude ba||oon |nc|uded 1 hour and 36 m|nutes of
ascent, 57 m|nutes of foat at 102,000 ft and approx|mate|y 30 m|nutes of descent. The
pay|oad conta|ned var|ous SHM exper|ments |nc|ud|ng |mpedance measurements, pas-
s|ve detect|on (acoust|c em|ss|on}, act|ve |nterrogat|on us|ng u|trason|c gu|ded waves,
and w|re|ess stra|n/temperature sens|ng. Resu|ts from th|s |n|t|a| f|ght suggest potent|a| of
act|ve d|agnos|s for cont|nuous SHM of space veh|c|es and |nd|cates spec|fcs of us|ng
off-the-she|f sensor so|ut|ons |n the near-space env|ronment. Future f|ghts are schedu|ed
on sR|v veh|c|es to expose s|m||ar sensors to other aspects of the re|evant env|ronment
for eventua| use.
Structura| Hea|th Mon|tor|ng for Commerc|a|
Space Veh|c|es
H||||e| o, /|d|e| Za|a| (||, êw /ex|co ||s|||0|e O/ /|||| /|d 7ec||o|o,
DESlGNATlON T0038-SB
SELECTlON MARCH 2012 (AFO3|
PLATFORMS sRLV, BALLOON
FLlGHTS TO DATE 1 (BALLOON|
PRlMARY TA TA12
!a|0a|, 20, 2013. H||| s|ow-caooed /|. !e//e|so| || ||e
Cascade |a|e o|o.|d|| ||e oac|d|oo, ||e êw /ex|co
7ec| (^/7 |eam o|eoa|es ||e |a0|c| o/ ||e 5||0c|0|a| |ea|||
/o|||o||| (5|/ |ec||o|o, oa,|oad. 7|e |eam o|ese|| a|
||e /ad|as (O| a||oo|| ||c|0ded ^/5/ F|||| Oooo||0||||es
Camoa|| /a|ae| S|0ce Heooo| (|e/|, ^|c| Dem|do.|c| o/
||e F// Comme|c|a| 5oace 7|a|soo||a||o| O//ce (||||d /|om
|e/| a|d || /|d|e| Za|a| o/ ^/7 (/o0||| /|om |e/|.
(||o|o. /|d|e| Za|a|
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
70
|ockheed Mart|n Space Systems |s partnered w|th NASA/Goddard Space
F||ght Oenter and the n|vers|ty of Ar|zona to deve|op the f|ght system (space-
craft} and perform the m|ss|on operat|ons for the OSlRlS-REx m|ss|on. OSlRlS-
REx (Or|g|ns, Spectra| lnterpretat|on, Resource ldent|fcat|on, and Secur|ty
Rego||th Exp|orer} |s an astero|d study and samp|e return m|ss|on schedu|ed
for |aunch |n the Fa|| of 2016. The spacecraft w||| co||ect a pr|st|ne samp|e us-
|ng a gas-dr|ven rego||th |ev|tat|on (fu|d|zat|on} approach and return |t to Earth
to study |t for c|ues about the compos|t|on of the very ear|y So|ar System. The
exp|orer`s samp|er head |s des|gned to approach the astero|d`s surface |n a
near zero-g env|ronment, make contact for about 5 seconds wh|ch tr|ggers
the re|ease of pressur|zed gas, capture the |ev|tated rego||th samp|e (60g m|n|-
mum}, and then back away.
Prev|ous m|crograv|ty f|ght test|ng was conducted on NASA a|rcraft |n 2007
and 2009 dur|ng the ear|y prototype des|gn and deve|opment phase of our
samp||ng system |n order to reach TR|-5. Reach|ng TR|-6 pr|or to conduct of
the OSlRlS-REx Pre||m|nary Des|gn Rev|ew (PDR} |n March 2013 was essent|a|,
so add|t|ona| f|ghts support|ng techno|ogy maturat|on were needed.
We few our prototype samp||ng system on a parabo||c f|ght campa|gn |n May
2012. F|ve test chambers were operated for each f|ght for a tota| of 20 |ow
grav|ty test runs. A sc|ent|fca||y representat|ve range of s|mu|ated rego||ths
were successfu||y co||ected on a|| runs except the run that |ntent|ona||y d|d not
have gas re|ease (to ver|fy that no rego||th was co||ected un|ntent|ona||y}. These
tests va||date the effect|veness of the gas fu|d|zat|on samp||ng techn|que for
astero|d or comet nuc|eus samp|e return m|ss|ons w|th s|gn|fcant marg|n to
m|ss|on requ|rements. Based |n part on these f|ght tests, we successfu||y com-
p|eted the PDR |n March 2013 and have now started the actua| f|ght hardware
deve|opment for the September 2016 |aunch date.
Test|ng Astero|d Samp|e Co||ect|on Hardware
H||||e| o, !oseo| ve||||a (||, |oc||eed /a|||| ||c.
DESlGNATlON T0042-P
SELECTlON MARCH 2012 (AFO3|
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 1
PRlMARY TA TA07
/a, 15, 2012. 7|e samo|e| |ead |s s||e|ded /|om ||e s|m0|a|ed |eo|||| o,
a mo.ao|e oa|||e| o||o| |o e||e||| a ze|o |a.||, oa|aoo|a. 7|e o|e0ma||ca||,
co|||o||ed m||| a|m || ||e samo||| |es| /x|0|e a0|oma||ca||, oe|/o|ms ||e |es| oe|
||e se|-0o es|ao||s|ed o, ||e ooe|a|o|s. (||o|o. ^/5//!ames S|a||
73
RlNGS, the Resonant lnduct|ve Near-fe|d Generat|on System, |s a jo|nt DAR-
PA/NASA funded program to demonstrate and mature two techno|og|es that
cou|d enab|e future space m|ss|ons |nvo|v|ng format|ons of mu|t|p|e space-
craft. The frst of these techno|og|es, referred to as 'E|ectromagnet|c For-
mat|on F||ght" or EMFF, |s a prope||ant-|ess propu|s|on techno|ogy that uses
|oca||y generated magnet|c fe|ds to produce forces and torques between
the veh|c|es. The second techno|ogy |s a form of w|re|ess power transfer
(WPT} referred to as resonant |nduct|ve coup||ng (RlO}, a non-rad|at|ve and
|arge|y non-d|rect|ona| power transfer approach that cou|d be used to power
a feet of sma|| spacecraft. The RlNGS project |s a co||aborat|ve effort among
The n|vers|ty of Mary|and Space Power and Propu|s|on |ab (MD SPP|},
Aurora F||ght Sc|ences (AFS}, and the Massachusetts lnst|tute of Techno|ogy
(MlT}. To max|m|ze product|v|ty dur|ng p|anned lSS test sess|ons, our a|m
was to use a parabo||c f|ght campa|gn to conduct pre||m|nary format|on f|ght
test|ng and beg|n the contro| a|gor|thm refnement process.
The RlNGS pay|oad was se|ected by the F||ght Opportun|t|es program un-
der AFO5 and few 4 months |ater on a G-Force One m|crograv|ty parabo||c
a|rcraft campa|gn |n Apr|| 2013. The mu|t|-day test|ng and data co||ect|on
campa|gn a||owed opt|m|zat|on of our contro| a|gor|thms. For the frst t|me,
we were ab|e to subm|t the pay|oad to 6 Degrees Of Freedom (DOF} test-
|ng under mu|t|p|e operat|ona| scenar|os, |nc|ud|ng system mass and |nert|a|
|dent|fcat|on and fundamenta| format|on contro| maneuvers. The RlNGS sys-
tem demonstrated an |mpress|ve dynam|c response to generated magnet|c
fe|ds, prov|d|ng the attract|on, repu|s|on and shear forces necessary to fu||y
contro| a spacecraft c|uster. The WPT was a|so demonstrated at d|fferent
separat|on d|stances and re|at|ve or|entat|ons.
Our test data supported the mode|s deve|oped to pred|ct contro||ed mot|on
of the RlNGS but test|ng |n |onger-durat|on m|crograv|ty on the lSS w||| be es-
sent|a| for fu|| va||dat|on. RlNGS was |aunched |n August of 2013 and |s cur-
rent|y undergo|ng test|ng onboard the lSS as part of the SPHERES test bed.
Prope||ant-|ess Propu|s|on us|ng Loca||y
Generated Magnet|c F|e|ds
H||||e| o,. |a, 5edw|c| (||, U||.e|s||, o/ /a|,|a|d
DESlGNATlON T0065-P
SELECTlON JANUARY 2013 (AFO5|
PLATFORM PARABOLIC
FLlGHTS TO DATE 1
PRlMARY TA TA04
/o||| 21, 2013. ^/5/ as||o|a0| G|eo|, C|am||o//
oose|.es ||e ||^G5 || /|ee /oa| as ||e a||o|a|e oes
|||o0| a m|c|o|a.||, oa|aoo|a. 7|e s,s|em |s || s|ea|
deo|o,me||, 0sed |o demo|s||a|e |o|a||o|a| mo||o| ||
E|ec||oma|e||c Fo|ma||o| F|||| (E/FF.
?@.8-8* AB+BCD8;73- E,3F894-GH
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
74
Spacecraft can accumu|ate |arge pos|t|on and ve|oc|ty errors
dur|ng the entry phase of a p|anetary |and|ng due to atmospher|c
and |nert|a| nav|gat|on uncerta|nt|es and ||m|ted contro| author|ty.
The powered descent phase, wh|ch |s the |ast phase of Entry,
Descent, and |and|ng (ED|}, |s when the |ander can make a con-
tro||ed maneuver to correct for these errors to reach a targeted
po|nt w|th p|n-po|nt accuracy. Th|s maneuver must be p|anned
onboard |n rea| t|me because the state of the |ander at the start of
powered descent phase cannot be pred|cted |n advance. Pow-
ered descent gu|dance a|gor|thms used s|nce the Apo||o era do
not opt|m|ze fue| usage and s|gn|fcant|y ||m|t how far the |and-
|ng spacecraft can be d|verted dur|ng descent. Jet Propu|s|on
|aboratory`s Gu|dance a|gor|thm for Fue| Opt|ma| |arge D|verts
(G-FO|D} autonomous|y computes fue| opt|ma| |and|ng trajecto-
r|es |n rea| t|me and prov|des a key new techno|ogy requ|red for
p|anetary p|npo|nt |and|ng.
ln a ser|es of test f|ghts ut|||z|ng Masten`s A-0.1B omb|e space-
craft |ander testbed, progress|ve|y more comp|ex execut|ons of
the G-FO|D a|gor|thm were conducted under descent cond|-
t|ons not ach|evab|e through other test|ng methods. On Ju|y 30,
2013, to s|mu|ate a course correct|on dur|ng Mart|an powered
descent to |and|ng, Masten`s omb|e was frst commanded |nto
a fast vert|ca| descent beg|nn|ng at 400 meter a|t|tude w|th a de-
fau|t descent trajectory back to the |aunch pad |nstead of the de-
s|red target |and|ng s|te 750 meters away. About 20 meters |nto
th|s descent, the G-FO|D software automat|ca||y tr|ggered and
ca|cu|ated a new f|ght prof|e |n rea| t|me to the targeted |and|ng
s|te. The rocket then used th|s G-FO|D prof|e to successfu||y
d|vert 750 meters to the target (see d|agram}. omb|e took to
the sky aga|n on September 20, 2013. More amb|t|ous than the
prev|ous f|ght, th|s test had the omb|e veh|c|e |n|t|a||y trave||ng
d|agona||y away from the target |and|ng s|te. Th|s test f|ght s|mu-
|ated a worst-case spacecraft |and|ng maneuver and forced the
G-FO|D a|gor|thm to ca|cu|ate, |n rea| t|me, a three-d|mens|ona|
f|ght path that reversed d|rect|on to reach the target |and|ng s|te.
Th|s accurate|y executed 800-meter three-d|mens|ona| d|vert
shows what G-FO|D cou|d mean for future space m|ss|ons. For
Increas|ng Land|ng Accuracy for the Next Mars M|ss|on
DESlGNATlON T0068-S
SELECTlON JULY 2012 (NRA1|
PLATFORM sRLV
FLlGHTS TO DATE 2
PRlMARY TA TA09
5eo|emoe| 20, 2013. / òmo|e |ec||o|o, demo|s||a|o| /|om /as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems, /o|a.e,
Ca||/., |s o|a||| d0||| ||e e|d o/ a |o| d|.e|| a| /o|a.e /|| a|d 5oace |o|| o| a |es| /o| ^/5/'s
!e| ||oo0|s|o| |aoo|a|o|,. 7|e .e||c|e |s a .e|||ca|-|a|eo//, .e|||ca|-|a|d|| exoe||me||a| |oc|e|. || |s
oe|| 0sed || co||aoo|a||o| w||| ^/5///|ms||o| F|||| |esea|c| Ce||e| |o e.a|0a|e oe|/o|ma|ce o/
!||'s F0e| Oo||ma| |a|e D|.e|| G0|da|ce (G-FO|D, a |ew a|o||||m /o| o|a|e|a|, o||oo||| |a|d|| o/
soacec|a/|. (||o|o. ^/5///as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems/Ca|| 5e0oe||
the Mars Our|os|ty |and|ng scenar|o, G-FO|D cou|d prov|de s|x
t|mes more d|vert range than the software used to |and Our|os-
|ty. Such a capab|||ty wou|d be needed for a safe |and|ng on the
jagged |cy surface of Europa or for the coord|nated |and|ngs of
personne| and mater|a| requ|red for human exp|orat|on of Mars.
G-FO|D a|so can reduce the d|ffcu|ty of future robot|c m|ss|ons,
a||ow|ng rovers to |and c|oser to features of |nterest |nstead of
dr|v|ng |ong d|stances to reach them. A future rover s|m||ar to
Our|os|ty m|ght be ab|e to |and r|ght next to a target of sc|ent|fc
|nterest ||ke Mount Sharp |nstead of an extended dr|ve there.
H||||e| o,.
/|/| /0|, Da||e| |. 5c|a|/, /a|||| H. |ee||/!e| ||oo0|s|o| |aoo|a|o|,, Ca||/o|||a ||s|||0|e o/ 7ec||o|o,
Se|e| /|mese/U||.e|s||, o/ 7exas a| /0s|||
Da.|d /as|e|//as|e| 5oace 5,s|ems, ||c.
C|||s Sa|e|/^/5/ F|||| Oooo||0||||es ||o|am
Launch Pad
Xombie
Default
Trajectory vertical Landing
G-FOLD Divert Trajectory
Calculated Onboard Xombie
G-FOLD Triggers and
Calculates New Trajectory
380 m
365 m
750 m
3 m
450 m
Target Pad
}
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
76
77
T|t|e Pr|nc|p|e Invest|gator Organ|zat|on State Org Type TA AFO# Status
) T0003-PS On-Orbit Propellant Storage Stability Sathya Gangadharan Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University FL Academia TA02 AFO1 Active )
& T0004-PS Printing the Space Future Jason Dunn Made in Space, lnc. CA lndustry TA12 AFO1 Active &
Q T0005-P Development and validation of Design Tools for Advanced Two-Phase, Space Heat Exchangers Jungho Kim University of Maryland MD Academia TA14 AFO1 Completed Q
O T0006-P Electric Field Effects on Pool Boiling Heat Transfer in Low-G Environments Jungho Kim University of Maryland MD Academia TA14 AFO1 Completed O
5 T0007-P Testing of the Radio Frequency Mass Gauge on Parabolic Flights Greg Zimmerli NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA02 AFO1 Completed 5
5 T0008-P lndexing Media Filtration System for Long Duration Space Mission Rajagopal vijayakumar Aerfl (w/ NASA GRCj NY lndustry TA06 AFO1 Active 5
R T0009-P Autonomous Robotic Capture in Near-Zero Gravity to validate Ground-Based Contact Dynamics Simulation of Space Operations Brian Roberts NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center MD Government TA04 AFO1 Completed R
N T0010-P validation of Atomization Mechanism and Droplet Transport for a Spacecraft Fine Water Mist Portable Fire Extinguisher in Microgavity Thierry Carriere ADA Technologies CO lndustry TA06 AFO1 Completed N
P T0011-P Cryocooler vibrational Characterization for the vASlMR lSS Demonstration Mission Chris Olsen Ad Astra Rocket Company TX lndustry TA02 AFO1 Completed P
)' T0012-P validating Telemetric lmaging Hardware for Crew-Autonomous Biological lmaging in Parabolic and Suborbital Application Rob Ferl University of Florida FL Academia TA08 AFO1 Active )'
)) T0013-P Real-Time lnstrumentation for Monitoring Radiation-lnduced DNA Degradation in Space Howard G. Levine NASA/Kennedy Space Center FL Government TA06 AFO1 Completed ))
)& T0014-P Heat Pipe Limits in Reduced Gravity Environments Marc A. Gibson NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA14 AFO1 Completed )&
)Q T0015-S Electromagnetic Field Measurements on sRLv H. Todd Smith Johns Hopkins University / APL MD Research lnst. TA08 AFO1 Active )Q
)O T0016-S Guidance Embedded Navigator lntegration Environment (GENlEj Rick Loff Draper Laboratory MA Research lnst. TA09 AFO1 Pending )O
15 T0017-P lso-grid, Thermal-Structural Panel (lsoThermj Hans-Peter Dumm Air Force Research Laboratory NM Government TA14 AFO1 Completed 15
15 T0018-P Sub-System Coupling for Grey Water Purifcation (vPCARj Walt Turner NASA/Kennedy Space Center FL Government TA06 AFO1 Completed 15
)R T0020-PS Microgravity Multi-Phase Flow Experiment for Suborbital Testing (MFESTj Katy Hurlbert NASA/Johnson Space Center TX Government TA06 AFO2 Active )R
)N T0021-S Application of Controlled vibrations to Multiphase Systems Ricard Gonzalez-Cinca Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya SPAlN lnternational TA02 AFO2 Active )N
)P T0022-S Environment Monitoring Suite on sRLv H. Todd Smith Johns Hopkins University / APL MD Research lnst. TA08 AFO2 Active )P
&' T0023-S Measurement of the Atmospheric Background in the Mesosphere Sean Casey Silicon valley Space Center CA lndustry TA08 AFO2 Pending &'
&) T0024-S RF Gauging of the Liquid Oxygen Tank on a Suborbital Reusable Launch vehicle Greg Zimmerli NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA02 AFO2 Pending &)
&& T0025-P Assessing vestibulo-ocular Function and Spatial Orientation in Parabolic Flight Michael Schubert Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine MD Academia TA06 AFO2 Active &&
&Q T0026-P Evaluation of Medical Chest Drainage System Funtional in the Microgravity Environment C. Marsh Cuttino Orbital Medicine, lnc. vA lndustry TA06 AFO2 Completed &Q
&O T0027-P Autonomous Cell Culture Apparatus for Growing 3-Dimensional Tissues in Microgravity Zarana Patel NASA/Johnson Space Center TX Government TA06 AFO2 Active &O
25 T0028-P Demonstration of Non-lnvasive Acquisition of Physiologic variables from Spacefight Participants Ravi Komatireddy The vital Space Team CA lndustry TA06 AFO2 Completed 25
25 T0029-P Physics of Regolith lmpacts in Microgravity Experiment Josh Colwell University Of Central Florida FL Academia TA07 AFO3 Active 25
&R T0030-P Microgravity Health Care Scott Dulchavsky Henry Ford Health System Ml Research lnst. TA06 AFO3 Active &R
&N T0031-P Activity Monitoring during Parabolic Flight Peter Cavanagh University of Washington WA Academia TA06 AFO3 Active &N
&P T0032-P UAH CubeSat Parabolic Flight Testing Francis Wessling Univ. Of Alabama Space HW Club AL Academia TA12 AFO3 Completed &P
Q' T0033-B Flight Testing of UAT ADS-B Transmitter Prototype for Commercial Space Transportation Richard Stansbury Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University FL Academia TA05 AFO3 Completed Q'
Q) T0034-S Terrain Relative Navigation Descent lmager (TRNDlj Rick Loff Draper Laboratory MA Research lnst. TA09 AFO3 Pending Q)
Q& T0035-S Near-Zero Gravity Cryogenic Line Chilldown Experiment in a Suborbital Reusable Launch vehicle Jacob Chung University of Florida FL Academia TA02 AFO3 Active Q&
QQ T0036-S Collisions lnto Dust Experiment on a Commercial Suborbital vehicle Josh Colwell University Of Central Florida FL Academia TA07 AFO3 Active QQ
QO T0037-P Particle Dispersion System for Microgravity Environments John Marshall SETl lnstitute CA Research lnst. TA08 AFO3 Completed QO
35 T0038-SB Structural Health Monitoring for Commercial Space vehicles Andrei Zagrai NM lnstitute Of Mining And Technology NM Academia TA12 AFO3 Active 35
35 T0039-P Fuel Mass Gauging Based on Electrical Capacitance volumatric Tomography Techniques Manohar Deshpande NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center MD Government TA02 AFO3 Pending 35
QR T0040-P Microgravity Effects of Nanoscale Mixing on Diffusion Limited Processes Using Electrochemical Electrodes Carlos Cabrera University of Puerto Rico PR Academia TA06 AFO3 Completed QR
QN T0041-P Effects of Reduced Gravity on Flow Boiling and Condensation lssam Mudawar Purdue University lN Academia TA14 AFO3 Completed QN
QP T0042-P OSlRlS-REx Low-Gravity Regolith Sampling Tests Joe vellinga Lockheed Martin lnc. CO lndustry TA07 AFO3 Completed QP
O' T0043-P Parabolic Flight: validation of Electro-Hydrodynamic Gas-Liquid Phase Separation in Microgravity Boris Khusid New Jersey lnstitute Of Technology NJ Academia TA14 AFO3 Pending O'
O) T0044-P Sintering of Composite Materials under Reduced Gravity Conditions Carmelo Mandarino Advanced Technical lnst. E. Fermi" lTALY lnternational TA07 AFO3 Active O)
O& T0045-P Evaporative Heat Transfer Mechanisms within a Heat Melt Compactor (EHeM HMCj Experiment Eric Golliher NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA06 AFO3 Pending O&
OQ T0046-S Polar Mesospheric Cloud lmaging and Tomography Experiment Jason Reimuller Space Science lnstitute CO Research lnst. TA08 AFO3 Pending OQ
AFO
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
78
79
T|t|e Pr|nc|p|e Invest|gator Organ|zat|on State Org Type TA AFO# Status
44 T0047-P Boston University Student Proposal for Deployable Solar and Antenna Array Microgravity Testing Ted Fritz Boston University MA Academia TA12 AFO3 Active OO
45 T0048-P Effects of Reduced and Hyper Gravity on Functional Near-lnfrared Spectroscopy (fNlRSj lnstrumentation Angela Harrivel NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA06 AFO3 Completed 15
46 T0049-P Parabolic Flight Evaluation of a Hermetic Surgery System for Reduced Gravity George Pantalos University of Louisville KY Academia TA06 AFO3 Active 15
47 T0050-B Flight Demonstration of an lntegrated Camera and Solid-State Fine Steering System Eliot Young Southwest Research lnstitute CO Research lnst. TA08 AFO3 Active OR
48 T0051-P Non-lnvasive Hemodynamic Monitoring in Microgravity Greg Kovacs Stanford University CA Academia TA06 AFO3 Completed ON
49 T0052-S Collection of Regolith Experiment (COREj on a Commercial Suborbital vehicle Josh Colwell University of Central Florida FL Academia TA07 AFO3 Active OP
50 T0053-S validating Telemetric lmaging Hardware for Crew-Assisted and Crew-Autonomous Biological lmaging in Suborbital Applications Rob Ferl University of Florida FL Academia TA08 AFO4 Active 50
51 T0054-B Stratospheric Parabolic Flight Technology Steven Collicott Purdue University lN Academia TA08 AFO4 Active 51
52 T0055-P Structural Dynamics Test of STACER Antenna Deployment in Microgravity Kerri Cahoy Massachusetts lnstitute of Technology MA Academia TA12 AFO5 Active 52
53 T0056-P UAH ChargerSat-2 Parabolic Flight Testing Francis Wessling University of Alabama AL Academia TA14 AFO5 Active 53
54 T0057-P High Eccentric Resistive Overload (HEROj Device Demonstration during Parabolic Flight Aaron Weaver NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA06 AFO5 Active 51
55 T0058-P Assessing Otolith-Organ Function with vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (vEMPsj in Parabolic Flight Mark Shelhamer Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine MD Academia TA06 AFO5 Pending 55
56 T0059-P
On the Performance of a Nanocatalyst-Based Direct Ammonia Alkaline Fuel Cell (DAAFCj Under Microgravity Conditions for Water
Reclamation and Energy Applications
Carlos Cabrera University of Puerto Rico, Rio Pedras PR Academia TA03 AFO5 Active 55
57 T0060-P Dynamic and Static Behavior of a Flexible Fuel Hose in Zero-G Allyson Buker Jackson and Tull DC lndustry TA04 AFO5 Completed 57
58 T0061-SB Flight Testing of a UAT ADS-B Transmitter Prototype for Commercial Space Transportation Using sRLv Richard Stansbury Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University FL Academia TA05 AFO5 Active 5c
59 T0062-P ln-Flight Lab Analysis Technology Demonstration in Reduced Gravity Emily Nelson NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA06 AFO5 Pending 59
60 T0063-P Caging System for Drag-free Satellites Rob Byer Stanford University CA Academia TA08 AFO5 Completed 50
61 T0064-B Deployable Rigid Adjustable Guided Final Landing Approach Pinions (DRAG FLAPsj Scott Nietfeld Masten Space Systems lnc. CA lndustry TA09 AFO5 Active 51
62 T0065-P Reduced Gravity Flight Demonstration of the Resonant lnductive Near-feld Generation System (RlNGSj Ray Sedwick University of Maryland MD Academia TA04 AFO5 Completed 52
63 T0066-B Guided Parafoil High Altitude Research Allen Lowry Airborne Systems N. America of CA, lnc. CA lndustry TA09 AFO5 Active 53
64 T0067-S Autolanding for Robotic Precursor Missions Kevin Peterson Astrobotic Technology, lnc. PA lndustry TA09 AFO5 Active 51
65 T0089-P Technology Maturation of a Dual-Spinning CubeSat Bus Kerri Cahoy Massachusetts lnstitute of Technology MA Academia TA12 AFO6 Active 55
66 T0090-P Testing Near-lnfrared Neuromonitoring Devices for Detecting Cerebral Hemodynamic Changes in Parabolic Flight Gary Strangman Massachusetts General Hospital MA Academia TA06 AFO6 Active 55
67 T0091-P Resilient Thermal Panel: Microgravity Effects on lsothermality of Structurally Embedded Two Dimensional Heat Pipes Andy Williams Air Force Research Laboratory NM Government TA14 AFO6 Active 57
68 T0092-S Precision Formation Flying Sensor Webster Cash University of Colorado CO Academia TA08 AFO6 Active 5c
69 T0093-P Wireless Strain Sensing System for Space Structural Health Monitoring Haiying Huang University of Texas, Arlington TX Academia TA12 AFO6 Active 59
70 T0094-P Monitoring Tissue Oxygen Saturation in Microgravity Tom Smith University of Oxford UK lnternational TA06 AFO6 Active R'
71 T0095-SB
Test of Satellite Communications Systems on-board Suborbital Platforms to Provide Low-Cost Data Communications for Research Payloads,
Payload Operators, and Space vehicle Operators
Brian Barnett SatWest Consulting, LLC NM lndustry TA05 AFO6 Active R)
72 T0096-P Testing the Deployment and Rollout of the DragEN Electrodynamic Tether for CubeSats Jason Held Saber Astronautics Australia Pty. Ltd. AUSTRALlAlnternational TA02 AFO6 Active R&
73 T0097-B Planetary Atmosphere Minor Species Sensor Robert Peale University of Central Florida FL Academia TA08 AFO6 Active RQ
74 T0098-S Navigation Doppler Lidar Sensor Demonstration for Precision Landing on Solar System Bodies Farzin Amzajerdian NASA/Langley Research Center vA Government TA09 AFO6 Active RO
75 T0099-B Satellite-Based ADS-B Operations Flight Test Russ Dewey GSSL, lnc. OR lndustry TA05 AFO6 Active 75
76 T0100-P Creation of Titanium-Based Nanofoams in Reduced Gravity for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Production Kristen Scotti Northwestern University lL Academia TA10 AFO6 Active 75
77 T0101-P Testing a CubeSat Attitude Control System in Microgravity Conditions Eric Bradley University of Central Florida FL Academia TA02 AFO6 Active RR
78 T0102-P Demonstration of Adjustable Fluidic Lens in Microgravity James Schwiegerling University of Arizona AZ Academia TA08 AFO6 Active RN
79 T0103-P Optical Coherence Tomography (OCTj in Microgravity Doug Ebert Wyle Laboratories TX lndustry TA06 AFO6 Active RP
80 T0104-PS Real Time Conformational Analysis of Rhodopsin using Plasmon Waveguide Resonance Spectroscopy victor Hruby University of Arizona AZ Academia TA06 AFO6 Pending N'
81 T0105-P DYMAFLEX: DYnamic MAnipulation FLight EXperiment David Akin University of Maryland MD Academia TA04 AFO6 Active N)
82 T0106-B Low-Cost Suborbital Reusable Launch vehicle (sRLvj Surrogate Tim Lachenmeier GSSL, lnc. OR lndustry TA05 AFO6 Active N&
83 T0107-P Characterizing CubeSat Deployer Dynamics in a Microgravity Environment Kira Abercromby California Polytechnic State University CA Academia TA12 AFO6 Active NQ
84 T0108-P Demonstration of Food Processing Equipment Susana Carranza Makel Engineering, lnc. CA lndustry TA07 AFO6 Active NO
85 T0109-P Advanced Optical Mass Measurement System Jason Reimuller Mass Dynamix, lnc. CA lndustry TA02 AFO6 Pending c5
AFO
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
<5
<6
T|t|e Pr|nc|p|e Invest|gator Organ|zat|on State Org Type TA NRA# Status
86 T0068-S Fuel Optimal Large Divert Guidance for Planetary Pinpoint Landing (G-FOLDj Behcet Acikmese NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory CA Government TA09 NRA1 Completed c5
87 T0076-S Demonstration of vertically Aligned Carbon Nano-tubes for Earth Climate Remote Sensing H. Todd Smith Johns Hopkins University / APL MD Research lnst. TA10 NRA1 Pending NR
88 T0077-S Facility for Microgravity Research and Submicroradian Stabilization using sRLvs Scott Green Controlled Dynamics lnc. CA lndustry TA08 NRA1 Active NN
89 T0078-S Enhanced Thermal Switch for Payload Autonomous Thermal Control Douglas Mehoke Johns Hopkins University / APL MD Research lnst. TA14 NRA1 Pending NP
90 T0079-S Autonomous Flight Manager for Human-in-the-Loop lmmersive Simulation and Flight Test of Terrestrial Rockets Rick Loff Draper Laboratory MA Research lnst. TA04 NRA1 Pending P'
91 T0080-S Advanced Micro Sun Sensor Sohrab Mobasser NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory CA Government TA05 NRA1 Active P)
92 T0081-S Demonstration of variable Radiator Richard Kurwitz Texas A&M University TX Academia TA14 NRA1 Active P&
93 T0081-S Dynamic Microscopy System John vellinger Techshot, lnc. lN lndustry TA08 NRA1 Pending PQ
94 T0083-S Design and Development of a Micro Satellite Attitude Control System Manoranjan Majji State University of New York, Buffalo NY Academia TA02 NRA1 Active PO
95 T0084-S Suborbital Test of a Robotics-Based Method for ln-Orbit ldentifcation of Spacecraft lnertia Properties Ou Ma New Mexico State University NM Academia TA04 NRA1 Active 95
96 T0085-S SwRl Solar lnstrument Pointing Platform Craig DeForest Southwest Research lnstitute CO Research lnst. TA08 NRA1 Pending 95
97 T0086-S Saturated Fluid Pistonless Pump Technology Demonstrator Ryan Starkey University of Colorado CO Academia TA02 NRA1 Active PR
98 T0087-S Electric-hydrodynamic Control of Two-Phase Heat Transfer in Microgravity Boris Khusid New Jersey lnstitute of Technology NJ Academia TA14 NRA1 Active PN
99 T0088-S An FPGA-based, Radiation Tolerant, Reconfgurable Computer System with Real Time Fault Detection, Avoidance, and Repair Brock LaMeres Montana State University MT Academia TA11 NRA1 Active PP
100 T0111-S Rocket Flight of a Delta-Doped CCD Focal Plane Array for CHESS Paul Scowen Arizona State University AZ Academia TA08 NRA2 Pending )''
101 T0111-S Spacecraft Disturbance lsolation and Rejection Platform (SDlRPj Gerardo Ortiz NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory CA Government TA08 NRA2 Pending )')
102 T0113-B Focal Plane Actuation to Achieve Ultra-High Resolution on Suborbital Balloon Payloads Paul Scowen Arizona State University AZ Academia TA08 NRA2 Pending )'&
103 T0114-S Technology Demonstration of Graphene lon Membranes for Earth and Space Applications H. Todd Smith Johns Hopkins University / APL MD Research lnst. TA10 NRA2 Pending )'Q
104 T0115-S EDL Technology Development for the Maraia Earth Return Capsule Alan Strahan NASA/Johnson Space Center TX Government TA09 NRA2 Active )'O
105 T0116-S Operational Demonstration of the MPS-120 CubeSat High-impulse Adaptable Modular Propulsion System Christian Carpenter Aerojet General Corporation WA lndustry TA02 NRA2 Pending 105
106 T0117-S 1U CubeSat Green Propulsion System with Post-Launch Pressurization Michael Tsay Busek Co. lnc. MA lndustry TA02 NRA2 Pending 105
107 T0118-S lodine RF lon Thruster Development Kurt Hohman Busek Co. lnc. MA lndustry TA02 NRA2 Pending )'R
108 T0119-S lnductively Coupled Electromagnetic (lCEj Thruster System Development for Small Spacecraft Propulsion John Slough MSNW LLC WA lndustry TA02 NRA2 Pending )'N
109 T0120-S Advanced Hybrid Rocket Motor Propulsion Unit for CubeSats (PUCjr John DeSain The Aerospace Corporation CA Research lnst. TA02 NRA2 Pending )'P
110 T0001-PS Suborbital Flight Environment Monitor (SFEMj Dougal Maclise NASA/Ames Research Center CA Government TA08 Active ))'
111 T0002-S Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-Bj Nick Demidovich FAA Commercial Space Transportation DC Government TA05 Completed )))
112 T0019-S DlAPASON Ferdinando Cassese DTM Technologies lTALY lnternational TA08 Completed ))&
113 T0069-S Global Positioning Beacon (GPBj Jason Armstrong Kirtland AFB NM Government TA05 Completed ))Q
114 T0070-P Portable Fire Extinguisher (formerly T0010-Pj Branelle Rodriguez NASA/Johnson Space Center TX Government TA06 Completed ))O
115 T0071-S New Mexico Student Groups #1 and #2 for SL-7 Pat Hynes New Mexico Space Grant Consortium NM Academia TA06 Completed 115
116 T0072-S New Mexico Student Groups #3 and #4 for SL-8 Pat Hynes New Mexico Space Grant Consortium NM Academia TA06 Completed 115
117 T0073-S Radial Core Heat Spreader Roshanak Hakimzadeh NASA/Glenn Research Center OH Government TA14 Active ))R
118 T0074-S Miniature Altitude Determination System Sohrab Mobasser NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory CA Government TA05 Pending ))N
119 T0075-S Exo-Atmosperic Aerobrake Marc Murbach NASA/Ames Research Center CA Government TA09 Active ))P
120 T0110-P Wet Lab Macarena Parra NASA/Ames Research Center CA Government TA06 Active )&'
121 T0121-S Flyover Mapping and Modeling of Terrain Features William Whittaker Carnegie Mellon University PA Academia TA08 USlP1 Pending )&)
122 T0122-P Microgravity Experiment on Accretion in Space Environments Josh Colwell University of Central Florida FL Academia TA08 USlP1 Active )&&
123 T0123-P Microgravity Propellant Gauging Using Modal Analysis Kevin Crosby Carthage College Wl Academia TA02 USlP1 Active )&Q
124 T0124-B Gannon University's Cosmic-Ray Calorimeter (GU-CRCj Nicholas Conklin Gannon University PA Academia TA08 USlP1 Pending )&O
NRA
DIRECTED
USIP
One of our pr|mary goa|s has been to foster the emerg|ng com-
merc|a| reusab|e transportat|on |ndustry. By contract|ng our test
f|ghts w|th emerg|ng commerc|a| f|ght prov|ders, we serve as
an anchor tenant |n the suborb|ta| research market. lt has not
a|ways been an easy or stra|ghtforward path for many of these
compan|es. The |eve| of comp|ex|ty faced |n aerospace deve|op-
ment |s |nfamous enough to have been canon|zed |n the Amer|-
can |ex|con. Deve|op|ng, manufactur|ng, and f|ght test|ng any
new veh|c|e |s a process that frequent|y exceeds any ant|c|pated
schedu|e. The commerc|a| sector bears both the r|sk and the
reward; the ro|e our program p|ays to support th|s |ndustry |s by
fy|ng pay|oads |n a space-||ke env|ronment and advanc|ng the
deve|opment of cross-cutt|ng techno|og|es re|evant to NASA`s
m|ss|on. We cont|nue to act|ve|y purchase qua||fed f|ghts and
support the maturat|on of techno|og|es that enhance the sub-
orb|ta| |aunch veh|c|e capab|||t|es. The compan|es that are pro-
v|d|ng f|ght serv|ces to NASA are themse|ves deve|op|ng space
exp|orat|on techno|og|es and beneft from what |s be|ng tested.
ln th|s way, the two p|||ars of the program, nurtur|ng an emerg-
|ng |ndustry, and f|ght test|ng new techno|og|es, amp||fy one
another.
The program has presented some cha||enges w|th|n the Agency
as |t |s a pathfnder that needed to deve|op and ut|||ze new meth-
ods for NASA to work w|th commerc|a| spacef|ght compan|es.
ln part|cu|ar, the purchase of fxed-pr|ced commerc|a| f|ght ser-
v|ces represents a new way of work|ng w|th the space |ndustry
and requ|red some reth|nk|ng of how we accomp||sh our m|s-
s|on. Over the |ast severa| years, we have deve|oped methods
to assure a ba|ance between offer|ng frequent, |ow cost access
to re|evant env|ronments wh||e s|mu|taneous|y ma|nta|n|ng ap-
propr|ate |eve|s of safety and government overs|ght.
Desp|te the cha||enges, the path that has been |a|d out for us
by Oongress and the Execut|ve Branch |s worth the |nvestment.
Our commerc|a| partners are |nvested |n the success of the .S.
spacef|ght |ndustry and a strong commerc|a| space sector w|||
beneft NASA and the nat|on. The F||ght Opportun|t|es program
|s proud to be a forerunner |n the support and ut|||zat|on of the
commerc|a| space |ndustry.
Mark Co||ard, P|atforms Manager
<7
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As anchor tenant for technology maturation, NASA Flight
Opportunities continues to play an important role in the emergence
of a viable commercial reusable suborbital launch industry.
M|chae| |opez-A|egr|a, Oommerc|a| Spacef|ght Federat|on
<;
P|atforms
P r o f | | e s
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87
Xomb|e
Masten Space Systems
P|atform
The A-0.1-B 'omb|e" |s a fu||y reusab|e vert|ca| takeoff and
vert|ca| |and|ng (vTv|} |aunch veh|c|e used for |ow speed and
|ow a|t|tude test|ng. The veh|c|e p|aced |n the 2009 NASA funded
Northrop Grumman |unar |ander Oha||enge Pr|ze and has
recent|y served as a test p|atform for exper|menta| spacecraft
|and|ng systems as a commerc|a||y ava||ab|e |ander testbed. ln
the past three years, Masten has conducted e|ght d|st|nct R|v
f|ght campa|gns |n support of customers |nc|ud|ng NASA`s F||ght
Opportun|t|es program and NASA/JP|`s Gu|dance and Oontro|
Ana|ys|s Group.

To date, Masten Space Systems has conducted near|y 300
rocket-powered reusab|e |aunch veh|c|e (R|v} f|ght tests and
over 400 rocket eng|ne tests at |ts fac|||t|es |n Mojave, OA. The
A-0.1-B veh|c|e has a|so served as an |nterna| research and de-
ve|opment p|atform for Masten, and has demonstrated |n-f|ght
eng|ne restarts and prec|s|on |and|ng.

F||ght Pro|e
Oustom f|ght prof|es are deve|oped to best accommodate the
m|ss|on requ|rements for each pay|oad f|ght test. The veh|c|e
has been used to s|mu|ate both |unar and Mart|an |and|ng pro-
f|es and |s capab|e of h|gh speed descent rates not ach|evab|e
through he||copter test|ng. The h|ghest a|t|tude f|ght performed
for a pay|oad to date |s 499m and the |ongest downrange trans-
|at|on for a pay|oad f|ght |s 804m. omb|e |s capab|e of prec|s|on
|and|ng and has demonstrated 0.24m accuracy.

Pay|oad Congurat|on and Integrat|on
The veh|c|e |s equ|pped w|th a hyperv|sor that enab|es th|rd party
gu|dance, nav|gat|on and contro| (GN&O} systems and av|on|cs
packages to contro| omb|e |n f|ght wh||e ma|nta|n|ng Masten`s
GN&O as a superv|sor and a|ways-on safety net. The veh|c|e
can be confgured to test a w|de range of systems and sensors.
Masten eng|neers rout|ne|y work w|th techno|ogy deve|opers to
deve|op |nterfaces between the A-0.1-B and exper|menta| soft-
ware and hardware too|s. Masten`s campa|gn-tested pay|oad
qua||fcat|on and |ntegrat|on processes he|p prov|de a stream-
||ned path for techno|ogy maturat|on throughout the course of
too| concept|on, deve|opment and f|ght test.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/suborb|ta|/xomb|e
<=
P|atform
The Space|oft |s a reusab|e |aunch veh|c|e that was deve|oped
by P Aerospace |n 2006 as a m|crograv|ty research p|atform
for educat|on, sc|ent|fc research, and commerc|a| pay|oads. The
veh|c|e cons|sts of an expendab|e carbon compos|te so||d rocket
booster, av|on|cs and recovery sect|on, and a pay|oad bay. The
Space|oft |aunch system |s des|gned w|th robust marg|ns of
safety, and redundancy throughout a|| m|ss|on cr|t|ca| systems.
The frst test f|ght of Space|oft occurred |n September of
2006 w|th the frst m|ss|on to successfu||y reach space |n Apr|| of
2007. The Space|oft pay|oad de||very system has fown com-
merc|a||y over 10 t|mes w|th over 40 pay|oad customers, |s f|ght
proven and fu||y operat|ona|.
F||ght Pro|e
Space|oft |s ground |aunched from Spaceport Amer|ca us-
|ng a remote hydrau||c |auncher and automated |aunch systems.
The so||d rocket motor burns for 12 seconds and reaches space
w|th|n 60 seconds. A de-sp|n system s|ows the ro|| rate to near
zero when m|crograv|ty exper|ments can beg|n to be conducted.
The pay|oad sect|on rema|ns we|ght|ess |n excess of 4 m|nutes.
Dur|ng the re-entry phase of the f|ght the booster sect|on |s re-
|eased and the pay|oad and recovery sect|ons are ba|anced to
tr|m |n a hor|zonta| or|entat|on to s|ow the veh|c|e. At about a
m||e above the ground redundant onboard contro|s re|ease the
drogue parachute system wh|ch or|entates the pay|oad sect|on
|n a vert|ca| heads down att|tude. 10 seconds after drogue de-
p|oy the ma|n parachute |s re|eased and prov|des a soft |and|ng
on Wh|te Sands M|ss||e Range. P Aerospace and Army recov-
ery crews are |mmed|ate|y d|spatched to the |and|ng s|te to re-
tr|eve the pay|oad(s} and fy |t back to Spaceport Amer|ca where
they are un|oaded from the pay|oad bay and prov|de back to the
customers ons|te.
Pay|oad Congurat|on and Integrat|on
The heart of the Space|oft pay|oad de||very system |s the
patent pend|ng Pay|oad Transportat|on System (PTS} . Each
standard Space|oft m|ss|on conta|ns seven PTS conta|ners
w|th two d|fferent s|zes to choose from.The PTS10 |s the |arger
of the two w|th |nterna| d|mens|ons measur|ng 23.5 cm ta|| and
a d|ameter of 24.8 cm. The PTS4 |nterna| d|mens|ons are 8.3
cm |n he|ght and a d|ameter of 24.8 cm. A|| PTS conta|ners have
access to the space env|ronment through open|ng |n the veh|c|e
a|rframe and access pane|s. Opt|ons for each PTS |nc|ude d|s-
crete command, power modu|es, and te|emetry wh|ch can be
custom|zed to match spec|fc pay|oad requ|rements.
Once a pay|oader |s s|gned up to a part|cu|ar m|ss|on the PTS
conta|ner(s} are prov|ded d|rect|y to the pay|oader to beg|n pay-
|oad confgurat|on, |ayout and mechan|ca| mount|ng of hardware.
Fo||ow|ng a successfu| Pay|oad Read|ness Rev|ew the PTS con-
ta|ners are then sh|pped back to P Aerospace to comp|ete pay-
|oad |ntegrat|on process and cert|fcat|on for f|ght onboard the
Space|oft.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/suborb|ta|/space|oft-x|
SpaceLoft-XL
UP Aerospace
=6
SBS/NBS HASS
Near Space Corporation Near Space Corporation
Sma|| Ba||oon System
The Sma|| Ba||oon System (SBS} offers many of the advantag-
es of the H|gh A|t|tude Ba||oon System (HASS}, but exchanges
the tact|ca| |aunch system and g||d|ng pay|oad return veh|c|e for
the s|mp||c|ty of a trad|t|ona| h|gh a|t|tude ba||oon veh|c|e w|th a
parachute recovery system. Standard SBS f|ghts can ||ft pay-
|oads of up to 10 kg to a|t|tudes of 35 km for f|ghts of up to
s|x hour. Non-standard opt|ons |nc|ude |arger pay|oad masses,
h|gher a|t|tudes, |onger f|ght durat|ons, and remote |aunch s|tes.
The system |s approved for f|ghts outs|de of a norma| test range
env|ronment, w|th standard operat|ons conducted out of NSO`s
T|||amook (OR} Ba||oon Fac|||ty. The SBS |s we|| su|ted for sma||
sate|||te and spacecraft subsystem deve|opers want|ng to ra|se
the|r Techno|ogy Read|ness |eve| (TR|} and qua||fy the|r pay|oad
|n a re|evant env|ronment.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/ba||oon/sbs
Nano Ba||oon System
The Nano Ba||oon System (NBS} |s an |dea| p|atform for cubesat
deve|opers seek|ng to test the|r prototype |n a space-||ke re|evant
env|ronment. Standard f|ghts can ||ft fu||y se|f-conta|ned 1
OubeSats (1 kg, 10 cm s|ded cube} to a|t|tudes of 30 km for
f|ghts of up to s|x hours. Severa| non-standard opt|ons are ava||-
ab|e, |nc|ud|ng a var|ety of standard or custom therma| |nsu|ated
hous|ngs to accommodate d|fferent pay|oad shapes and vo|-
umes, as we|| as the ab|||ty to send ||m|ted pay|oad commands
and prov|de onboard data record|ng. Standard f|ghts are con-
ducted out of NSO`s T|||amook (OR} Ba||oon Fac|||ty, and, due
to |ts sma|| s|ze and mass, the Nano Ba||oon System can be
operated
under |ess restr|ct|ve regu|at|ons w|th |ncreased operat|ona| fex-
|b|||ty. Th|s system |s |dea| for pay|oad prov|ders seek|ng a qu|ck
and s|mp|e so|ut|on for operat|ng a sma|| pass|ve pay|oad |n the
near space env|ronment.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/ba||oon/nbs
P|atform
NSO`s patent pend|ng H|gh A|t|tude Shutt|e System (HASS}
comb|nes an |nnovat|ve Tact|ca| Ba||oon |aunch System w|th a
spec|a| h|gh a|t|tude unmanned Shutt|e for pay|oad recovery.
F||ght Pro|e
The Tact|ca| Ba||oon |aunch System (TB|S} prov|des an unprec-
edented |eve| of |aunch fex|b|||ty and respons|veness. |aunch|ng
convent|ona| stratospher|c ba||oons typ|ca||y requ|res re|at|ve|y
ca|m w|nds, estab||shed |aunch s|tes, and |arge support teams.
The TB|S a||ows 2-3 persons to |aunch ba||oon-borne pay|oads
from undeve|oped remote |aunch s|tes |n w|nds of up to 30 kts.
Th|s enhances the ab|||ty to overfy spec|fc targets or fy des|red
prof|es. The Shutt|e sem|-autonomous|y returns pay|oads to pre-
spec|fed |and|ng s|tes, a||ow|ng pay|oads to be rap|d|y turned
around and reused |n ref|ghts. Pay|oad prov|ders des|r|ng en-
hanced f|ght path contro| or the ab|||ty to make |terat|ve pay-
|oad changes between frequent, h|gh a|t|tude f|ght tests w||| fnd
NSO`s HASS to be an appropr|ate p|atform.
Pay|oad Congurat|on
Standard HASS f|ghts can ||ft pay|oads of up to 10 kg to a|t|tudes
of 28 km for f|ghts of up to s|x hours. Non-standard opt|ons
|nc|ude h|gher a|t|tudes and |onger f|ght durat|ons. For HASS,
the pr|mary pay|oad bay |s compr|sed of the center sect|on of the
Shutt|e w|th pay|oad attachment and access prov|ded through
|ts bottom hatch. Th|s compos|te pay|oad tray/hatch serves as
the 'framework` onto wh|ch the pay|oad |s mounted. The stan-
dard HASS av|on|cs su|te |s mounted on the forward part of the
tray just pr|or to |aunch. A|| other rea| estate on the pay|oad tray
|s ava||ab|e for pr|mary pay|oad use w|th|n the enc|osed phys|ca|
constra|nts of the Shutt|e centerbody, the 10 kg (22 |bs} max-
mum pay|oad we|ght ||m|t, and spec|fed center of grav|ty (OG}
constra|nts.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/ba||oon/hass
=7
G-Force One
NASA/JSC Reduced Gravity Offce with Zero Gravity Corporation
P|atform
The Boe|ng 727-200F |s a three-eng|ne, swept-w|ng a|rcraft spe-
c|a||y mod|fed for reduced grav|ty operat|ons. The |nter|or con-
ta|ns 30 seats for researchers and crew |n the rear of the a|rcraft
and an open research area approx|mate|y 20m (67ft} |ong |n the
forward sect|on of the cab|n.
The a|rp|ane prov|des about 10-17 seconds of near-zero grav|ty
cond|t|ons dur|ng each parabo||c maneuver. lt can prov|de var|-
ab|e grav|ty |eve|s between zero and one, |nc|ud|ng 0.16 g for
|unar cond|t|ons and 0.38 g for Mars cond|t|ons. An |ncreased
grav|ty |eve| of up to 1.8 g can be prov|ded for up to one m|nute.
F||ght Pro|e
Before start|ng a parabo|a, G-Force One f|es |eve| to the hor|-
zon at an a|t|tude of 24,000 feet. The p||ots then beg|ns to pu||
up, gradua||y |ncreas|ng the ang|e of the a|rcraft to about 45 deg
to the hor|zon reach|ng an a|t|tude of 34,000 feet. Dur|ng th|s
pu||-up, passengers w||| fee| the pu|| of 1.8 g. Next the p|ane |s
'pushed over" to create the zero grav|ty segment of the parabo-
|a. For the next 10-17 seconds everyth|ng |n the p|ane |s we|ght-
|ess. Next a gent|e pu||-out |s started wh|ch a||ows the fyers to
stab|||ze on the a|rcraft foor. Th|s maneuver |s repeated 30-40
t|mes, each tak|ng about ten m||es of a|rspace to perform.
Pay|oad Congurat|on
Approx|mate|y 20m (67ft} of cab|n |ength |s ava||ab|e for |arger
exper|ments. Seats |n the rear can be ut|||zed for sma||er exper|-
ments as we||. A foor p|an schemat|c and cross sect|ona| v|ew
of the cab|n |s ava||ab|e |n the lnterface Oontro| Documentat|on.
Test equ|pment |s usua||y |oaded through the cargo door, wh|ch
|s 2.3m (90 |nches} h|gh and 3.4m (134 |nches} w|de.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/parabo||c/gforce-one
=;
SpaceSh|pTwo
P|atform
SpaceSh|pTwo (SS2}, an a|r-|aunched, suborb|ta| space p|ane,
uses s|m||ar techno|og|es, construct|on methods, and des|gn
features as SpaceSh|pOne (SS1}, the Ansar| PRlZE-w|nn|ng
veh|c|e deve|oped by Sca|ed Oompos|tes. SS2 |s 18.3 m (60 ft}
|ong w|th a |arge cab|n approx|mate|y 2.3 m (90 |n.} |n d|ameter
that |s des|gned to carry the equ|va|ent of s|x passengers and
two p||ots. O|ose |n s|ze to a Fa|con 900 execut|ve jet, the cab-
|n |s ab|e to prov|de amp|e room for passengers to exper|ence
we|ght|essness or for |arge pay|oads to operate |n the m|crograv-
|ty env|ronment.

F||ght Pro|e
A standard space f|ght for SS2 beg|ns w|th the veh|c|e mated
to a carr|er a|rcraft ca||ed Wh|teKn|ghtTwo (WK2}, a four-eng|ne,
dua|-fuse|age jet. The mated pa|r takes off from a convent|ona|
runway and c||mbs to an a|t|tude of approx|mate|y 15 km (50,000
ft.}. At th|s a|t|tude, SS2 |s re|eased from WK2 and, after ga|n|ng
adequate separat|on, fres |ts rocket motor for approx|mate|y one
m|nute. The veh|c|e qu|ck|y pu||s |n a vert|ca| c||mb and rap|d|y
ga|ns a|t|tude, reach|ng expected speeds around Mach 3.5. After
rocket motor cutoff, the veh|c|e |s des|gned to prov|de astronauts
virgin Galactic
or pay|oads a h|gh-qua||ty m|crograv|ty env|ronment for approx|-
mate|y 3-4 m|nutes. SS2 reenters the atmosphere |n a patented
'feathered` confgurat|on, prov|d|ng reentry at a known att|tude
for |ncreased safety and decreased |oads. After reentry, the ve-
h|c|e |s reconfgured as a g||der and makes an unpowered |and-
|ng on the same runway used for |n|t|a| takeoff.

Pay|oad Congurat|on
SpaceSh|pTwo has standard cab|n confgurat|ons for tour|sm
f|ghts, wh|ch prov|de seats for customers, and for research
f|ghts, wh|ch prov|de a modu|ar rack system for pay|oads. The
pay|oad rack hardware |s capab|e of |nterfac|ng d|rect|y w|th
Space Shutt|e M|ddeck |ockers as we|| as other standard or
custom structures of vary|ng s|ze that fo||ow s|m||ar |nterfac|ng
requ|rements. Each pay|oad can be as |arge as 200 |bs. and can
take up the vo|ume of a fu|| astronaut-seat equ|va|ent, a|though
sma||er pay|oads are a|so ab|e to fy. Each standard research
f|ght |s supported by a F||ght Test Eng|neer |n the cab|n, who w|||
be ab|e to comp|ete s|mp|e tasks such as pay|oad power act|va-
t|on |n-f|ght.

More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/suborb|ta|/spacesh|ptwo
P|atform
|ynx |s the p||oted, two-seat, fu||y reusab|e |aunch veh|c|e be|ng
deve|oped by OOR Aerospace to transport humans and pay-
|oads on a 30 m|nute suborb|ta| f|ght up to 100 km (330,000 feet}
and return |n a safe, g||de-back |and|ng at the or|g|nat|ng runway.
As w|th any product|on a|rcraft deve|opment program, OOR
has p|anned an |n|t|a| test art|c|e, fo||owed by severa| mode|s of
product|on veh|c|es that address d|fferent needs and markets.
The |ynx Mark l |s the |n|t|a| f|ght test veh|c|e now under deve|op-
ment at OOR`s Mojave, OA fac|||t|es. Th|s prototype veh|c|e w|||
be used to character|ze and f|ght test the var|ous sub-systems
of the craft |nc|ud|ng ||fe support, propu|s|on, tanks, structure,
aeroshe||, aerodynam|cs, re-entry heat|ng and other des|gn e|e-
ments. lt w||| undergo a f|ght test program beg|nn|ng |n 2014.
The f|ght test program cons|sts of a trad|t|ona| enve|ope expan-
s|on reg|me |n wh|ch the veh|c|e |s gradua||y tested to |ts fu|| f|ght
prof|e. The Mark l w||| be p|aced |nto commerc|a| serv|ce after
be|ng ||censed as a |aunch veh|c|e under FAA ru|es. The |ynx
Mark l w||| a|so be used to tra|n p||ots and crew for the |ynx Mark
ll. The |ynx Mark l |s des|gned to ach|eve an a|t|tude of 200,000
feet (approx|mate|y 61 km}.
The |ynx Mark ll w||| beg|n construct|on and assemb|y dur|ng the
|ynx Mark l deve|opment program. The Mark ll |s the product|on
vers|on of the |ynx, serv|c|ng both the suborb|ta| tour|sm mar-
ket and a|| markets that make use of the |ynx`s |nterna| pay|oad
vo|umes, such as m|crograv|ty and b|otechno|ogy exper|ments.
The |ynx Mark ll uses the same propu|s|on and av|on|cs systems
as the |ynx Mark l, but has a |ower dry we|ght and hence h|gher
performance than the Mark l. The Mark ll |s des|gned to fy to
328,000 feet (approx|mate|y 100 km}.
The |ynx Mark lll |s a h|gh|y mod|fed der|vat|ve of the |ynx Mark
ll that features the ab|||ty to carry an externa| dorsa| pod w|th
e|ther a pay|oad exper|ment or upper stage capab|e of |aunch|ng
a sma|| sate|||te |nto |ow earth orb|t. Tota| pay|oad capac|ty for
the externa| dorsa| pod |s 650kg. The |ynx Mark lll |s a d|fferent
veh|c|e from the Mark ll, featur|ng upgraded |and|ng gear, aero-
dynam|cs, core structura| enhancements, and features a more
powerfu| propu|s|on package and other mod|fcat|ons needed to
carry the extra we|ght a|oft.
F||ght Pro|e
The |ynx takes off hor|zonta||y from a runway and a|most
|mmed|ate|y |aunches |nto a powered ascent atta|n|ng Mach
2.9 max|mum a|rspeed. After about three m|nutes and at
approx|mate|y 58 km (190,000 ft.} the eng|nes are shutdown.
|ynx then coasts upwards. At approx|mate|y four and ha|f
m|nutes |ynx reaches apogee of 100 km (328,000 ft.}. After
reentry and Max-G force pu||out of 4-G, |ynx touches down
on the runway. Mark l |s ant|c|pated to ach|eve a tota| of 105
seconds at or be|ow 10-1g. The durat|on of Mark ll m|cro-g
t|me |s ant|c|pated to be 194 seconds at or be|ow 10-1g. |ynx`s
a|rcraft-||ke capab|||t|es a||ow h|gh tempo operat|ons, |nc|ud|ng up
to four f|ghts per day, rap|d ca||-up (ready to fy |n two hours}, fast
turnaround between f|ghts (ready to fy aga|n |n no more than
two hours}, |ow ma|ntenance |nterva|s (des|gned for 40 f|ghts
before prevent|ve ma|ntenance act|on}, and |ow cost operat|ons.

Pay|oad Congurat|on
The |ynx w||| offer severa| mu|t|-m|ss|on pr|mary and secondary
pay|oad capab|||t|es |nc|ud|ng: |n-cockp|t exper|ments, exter-
na||y mounted exper|ments, test p||ot/astronaut tra|n|ng, upper
atmospher|c samp||ng, m|crosate|||te |aunch/ba|||st|c trajectory
research (Mark lll/S capab|||ty on|y}, and persona| spacef|ght
(space tour|sm}. Pr|mary pay|oads determ|ne the f|ght trajectory,
date and m|ss|on object|ves. Secondary pay|oads are man|-
fested w|th a pr|mary pay|oad, wh|ch may be a spacef|ght par-
t|c|pant, and do not contro| the f|ght date, trajectory or m|ss|on
object|ves. |ynx veh|c|es w||| carry pr|mary pay|oads |ocated |n
the area to the r|ght of the p||ot or |n the case of the Mark lll (S
on|y} on the top of the veh|c|e |n an exper|ment pod. Secondary
pay|oad spaces |n a|| vers|ons |nc|ude a sma|| area |ns|de the
cockp|t beh|nd the p||ot or outs|de the veh|c|e |n two areas |n
the aft fuse|age fa|r|ng. For the Mark ll vers|on of the |ynx, the
pr|mary |nterna| pay|oad w||| accommodate a max|mum mass of
120 kg (265 |bs.} to 100 km (330,000 ft.}.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/suborb|ta|/|ynx
97
Lynx
XCOR Aerospace
P|atform
The STlG (Suborb|ta| Transport w|th lnert|a| Gu|dance} fam||y of
veh|c|es |s a 20"/500mm d|ameter, space capab|e veh|c|e offer-
|ng up to three m|nutes of m|cro-G t|me. Be|ng |nert|a||y gu|ded
and ||qu|d b|prope||ant, STlG offers a gent|e 4-G r|de to space for
a pay|oad up to 50 kg w|th no sp|n stab|||zat|on necessary. More-
over, recovery ut|||zes a ba||ute dece|erator |n comb|nat|on w|th
a GPS gu|ded parafo|| to fy-g||de the veh|c|e back to the |aunch
s|te offer|ng v|rtua||y |mmed|ate pay|oad access. STlG was the
frst R|v (Reusab|e |aunch veh|c|e} to be granted a |aunch ||-
cense by FAA/AST and |s founded on the same techno|og|es
that Armad|||o Aerospace deve|oped wh||e work|ng on NASA`s
Project Morpheus Terrestr|a| |unar |ander Ana|og veh|c|e now
fy|ng down at NASA/Kennedy Space Oenter.
F||ght Pro|e
The 'soft boost" of just 2-G |ncreases gradua||y over a per|od of
60-seconds to rough|y 4-G and can be custom|zed to the pay-
|oad prov|der`s need |nc|ud|ng a po|nt|ng capab|||ty. The veh|c|e
then coasts to apogee and descends to the outer reg|ons of
the atmosphere w|th at |east three m|nutes of m|cro-G and more
ava||ab|e on custom|zed m|ss|ons. At rough|y 30-km AG|, the
ba||ute |s dep|oyed and th|s dece|erates the veh|c|e from super-
son|c through subson|c unt||, at 3-km AG| the ma|n |s dep|oyed.
The recovery system f|ght computer then determ|nes current |o-
cat|on and des|red |and|ng po|nt and fy-g||des the veh|c|e back
to |and at the |aunch team`s feet.
Pay|oad Congurat|on
Pay|oad prov|ders are g|ven a pay|oad rack that fts |ns|de the
500mm pay|oad sect|on body tube. The pay|oad can be prov|d-
ed w|th both power and tr|gger|ng s|gna|s by the veh|c|e`s ma|n
f|ght computer at key event t|me, e.g. end of boost, apogee,
etc. The pay|oad |s checked out dur|ng the pay|oad |ntegrat|on
rev|ew wh|ch can take p|ace at e|ther the ma|n assemb|y shop or
|n the fe|d. Phys|ca| |ntegrat|on |n the fe|d can take p|ace the day
before |aunch or the morn|ng of |aunch |ns|de the veh|c|e prepa-
rat|on bu||d|ng. T|me from |ntegrat|on to |aunch can be as ||tt|e as
an hour and, |mportant|y, recovery can be |n as ||tt|e as twenty
m|nutes after |aunch! The pay|oad can be kept |n an env|ronmen-
ta||y contro||ed, amb|ent pressure pay|oad sect|on, exposed to
the space env|ronment or, w|th spec|a| cons|derat|on, dep|oyed
dur|ng |aunch.
Update
The assets of Armad|||o Aerospace have been bought from the
found|ng partners by Exos Aerospace Inc. STlG |s be|ng re-
p|aced by the successor veh|c|e SARGE wh|ch w||| have s|m||ar
conops but |ncreased capab|||t|es. Exos Aerospace |s |n the pro-
cess of bu||d|ng a m|n|-feet of veh|c|es and ant|c|pates |aunch|ng
|n the frst quarter of 2015 w|th pathfnder pay|oads. The goa|
|s to |aunch week|y throughout 2015, occas|ona||y w|th mu|t|p|e
|aunches |n one day.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/suborb|ta|/sarge
==
STIG
Armadillo Aerospace
!a|0a|, 2c, 2012. Sa||0|e /|om 57|G S |a|e| a| 91-|m /G|, 5oaceoo||
/me||ca (||o|o. /|mad|||o /e|osoace
P|atform
The mO|v |s a space-capab|e, suborb|ta| |aunch veh|c|e arch|-
tected around an extreme|y s|mp|e and re||ab|e n|trous ox|de and
HTPB hybr|d propu|s|on system. The veh|c|e |s two feet |n d|am-
eter and 36 feet |ong, w|th a gross we|ght of 4,000 |bs. G|ven
|ts her|tage as an eventua| common core modu|e of a c|ustered
orb|ta| veh|c|e, th|s system has a great dea| of performance to
offer suborb|ta| users.
F||ght Pro|e
Ow|ng to the |aunch veh|c|e`s stra|ghtforward des|gn, the system
|s |aunched from a mob||e |aunch ra|| that can be repos|t|oned to
any FAA/AST ||censab|e range. Th|s a||ows pay|oad users new
fex|b|||ty |n f|ght |og|st|cs. mO|v`s |mpress|ve ||ft capab|||ty a||ows
pay|oads up to 150 |bs to reach a|t|tudes above 100 km and up
to severa| m|nutes of m|crograv|ty t|me.
Pay|oad Congurat|on
mO|v`s |arge d|ameter offers the pay|oad user a substant|a| |n-
terna| vo|ume |n the standard pay|oad fa|r|ng. ln th|s standard
space, there |s approx. 3.5 cub|c feet ava||ab|e on a 22-|nch d|-
ameter un|versa| pay|oad mount p|ate. The fa|r|ng offers both RF-
transparency as we|| as a set of both standard and custom|zab|e
fa|r|ng penetrat|ons for opt|ca| apertures, atmospher|c samp||ng,
externa| antenna mounts, etc. The veh|c|e a|so offers a set of
pre-|aunch ground |nterfaces for power, data, and fu|d connec-
t|ons to the pay|oad. Wh||e NASA`s F||ght Opportun|ty program
|s bu||t around offer|ng a set of off the she|f, standard|zed |aunch
serv|ces, the mO|v can be |nfn|te|y and qu|ck|y reconfgured to
support m|ss|ons that go beyond the bounds of these standard
serv|ces. Wh|tt|ngh||| Aerospace`s goa| |s to offer the pay|oader
the most respons|ve and custom|zab|e serv|ce for any suborb|ta|
m|ss|on.
More |nformat|on:
f|ghtopportun|t|es.nasa.gov/p|atforms/suborb|ta|/mc|v
||C7U|E 7O CO/E
656
M|n|mum-cost Launch Veh|c|e (mCLV|
Whittinghill Aerospace
Geo|e H|||||||||| s|a|ds |ex| |o ||e mC|v /||| .e||c|e a| ||e H||||||||||
/e|osoace /ac|||||es || Cama||||o, C/. (||o|o. H|||||||||| /e|osoace
!"#$% '%$()*+*,- ./00/*) 1/2%$3*2#3%
654
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|a,o0|. /|exa|de| .a| D||| 8 !o|| Hoeoc|e
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Armstrong FIight Research Center
Edwards, California 93523
www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong
www.nasa.gov
NASA/SP-2014-218351

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