Contingency Analysis for Low-thrust Missions (CALM)

In response to the 2023 NASA SBIR solicitation subtopic H9.03, “Flight Dynamics and Navigation Technologies”, Advanced Space, LLC proposes to develop a mission design and planning tool that uses operational algorithms to mitigate the impact of anomalies and missed thrust events for low-thrust and dynamically sensitive missions. The software tool is an extension of the Virtual Swarm Method (VSM) for low-thrust trajectory optimization to maximize the missed-thrust recovery margin. The tool will be used to generate a multitude of spacecraft trajectories simultaneously to determine the worst-case scenarios to account for margins in the mission design. The results will provide trajectories, thrust arcs from failure modes, inform mass and propellant margins, and contribute to mission risk analysis. The proposed solution will be especially useful to future crewed Artemis missions to reduce mission risk more comprehensively. The proposed solution is named CALM or Contingency Analysis for Low-thrust Missions. Typical low-thrust spacecraft trajectory optimization consists of defining a nominal solution that obeys known constraints and minimizes the spacecraft propellant mass used. A major deficiency with these traditional methods is that it is difficult to incorporate missed thrust events, spacecraft failure modes, or other mission-specific anomalies in the mission planning phase. Experienced engineers use intuition and guesswork to manually arrive at solutions that are robust to failure modes, but this ad-hoc approach typically comes at the expense of the time it takes for trajectory optimization. There is no industry standard to account for anomalous activities or failure modes for low-thrust and dynamically sensitive missions. CALM aims to address this specific deficiency in the mission planning process.

Applications with NASA include interplanetary and deep-space science missions to enable low-thrust trajectory optimization at the mission planning stage. This also includes future low-cost missions to the Moon using Ballistic Lunar Transfers (BLTs) where fuel budgeting is paramount. Additionally, as Electric Propulsion gains market adoption for civil missions, highly efficient data collection is necessary to maximize mission lifespan and reduce mission risk.

This technology can be extended to the commercial satellite markets for coordinated constellations in high-Earth orbits and beyond to help the mission planning stage. Specifically, the team will target Missions of Opportunity (MOOs) with the external support of the technology. Additional benefits to non-NASA missions include the USGS Landsat, NSF satellites, and NOAA satellites.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — 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.