Structural Health Monitoring for Commercial Space Vehicles

A significant step in addressing the safety of commercial space vehicles is the development and testing of a flight information recorder or “black box”. It is envisioned that Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) would be an integral part of the “black box” and would record information on structural integrity during all stages of spaceflight. Consideration of SHM data is useful in pre-flight diagnostics, in-orbit operation and tuning, and in analysis of structural behavior (or disintegration) during spacecraft reentry. SHM information would also play a prominent role in space vehicle re-certification for the next flight.

Proposed flights will allow to test selected SHM technologies in realistic environment and investigate sensor performance. Potential customers include commercial companies and government entities involved in development and operation of space systems.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.