NASA Explores Industry Possibilities to Raise Swift Mission’s Orbit

To stimulate the development of key capacities based on the United States, NASA explores the opportunity to demonstrate technology to raise the orbit of a spaceship at a higher altitude. Two American companies – Cambargan Works of Reston, Virginia and Katalyst Space Technologies in Flagstaff, Arizona – will develop design studies for a possible orbite boost for the SWIFT observatory of Neil Gehrels of the Agency.

Since its launch in 2004, the NASA Swift mission has led the agency’s spatial telescopes fleet in the study of changes in the high energy universe. The low terrestrial orbit of the spacecraft has been gradually decaying, which happens to most satellites over time. Due to the recent increases in sun activity, however, Swift is experiencing additional atmospheric trail, accelerating its orbital decrease. This orbit of decrease has an opportunity for NASA to advance a capacity of the American industry, while potentially extending the scientific life of the rapid mission. Conceptual studies will help determine whether the extension of Swift’s critical scientific capacities would be more profitable than replacing these capacities with a new observatory.

“NASA science is committed to taking advantage of commercial technologies to find innovative and profitable means to open new capacities for the future of the American space sector,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, scientific mission, NASA seat in Washington. “To maintain the role of Swift in our portfolio, the science of NASA is only placed to lead a rare technology demonstration in space to raise the orbit of the satellite and solidify American leadership in the maintenance of the spaceship.”

Conceptual studies are being drawn up for phase III price prices through the NASA SMOK (SBIR) research program, managed by the agency’s spatial technology mission management, to small American businesses of a pool of existing participants. This approach allows NASA to quickly explore affordable possibilities of stimulating Swift on a shorter development chronology than what would be otherwise possible, given the rapid rate to which Swift orbit is broken down.

Currently, NASA has no plans for a mission of orbit boost and could always allow the spacecraft to reintegrate the atmosphere of the earth, as many satellites do it at the end of their lives. NASA is studying a potential rapid boost to support innovation in the American space industry, while acquiring a better understanding of the available options, the technical feasibility and the risks involved.

NASA will also work with Starfish Space from Seattle, Washington, to analyze the potential to make a quick boost using an active asset in an existing phase III SBIR price. Star of sea is currently developing the demonstration of propulsion and the capacity to inspection space equipment (SSPICY) for NASA, with the main objective of inspecting several missing satellites belonging to the United States in low terrestrial orbit.

“Our SBIR portfolio exists for circumstances like this – where investments in the American space industry offer NASA and our partners the possibility of developing mutually beneficial capacities,” said Clayton Turner, associate administrator, management of the spatial technology mission, NASA seat. “That we choose to implement technologies in this circumstance, understand how to stimulate the orbit of a spacecraft could be precious for future applications.”

Swift was designed to observe gamma gusts, the most powerful explosions in the universe and provide information to other NASA telescopes and partners to follow these events. His fast and flexible observations played a decisive role in the way scientists study transitional events to understand how the universe works. For more than two decades, Swift has carried out NASA missions by providing new ideas on these events, expanding our understanding of everything, explosive stars, stellar eruptions and eruptions in active galaxies, comets and asteroids in our own solar system and high energy lightning events.

“During its extremely productive lifespan, SWIFT was a key player in the NASA space telescopes network – leading our fleet to keep us a vigilant eye on changes in the universe, both far and near us,” said Shawn Domal -Goldman, interim director, Division of Astrophysics, Headquarters of NASA. “Now, this long -term scientific mission presents a new opportunity to us: a partnership with American industry to quickly explore effective and ultramodern solutions that could extend the transformative work of SWIFT and advance the maintenance of private spaces.”

Cambruban and Katalyst have each obtained $ 150,000 in the context of phase III SBIR contracts for concept design studies. The NASA Sbir program is part of the American seed fund, the largest source of non -dilutive financing at an early stage for innovative technologies. Thanks to this program, entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses with less than 500 employees can receive non -monetary funding and support to build, mature and market their technologies, advance NASA missions and help solve important problems that we are faced with.

The Goddard Space Flight Center from NASA in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Swift mission in collaboration with Penn State, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia. The other partners include the UK Space Agency, the University of Leicester and the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the United Kingdom, Brera Observatory in Italy and the Italian space agency. To find out more about the Swift mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/swift

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Alise Fisher / Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546 / 321-432-4624
Alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov