← Back to NASA Technology Projects
Completed TRL 3 (started at 3, targeting 6)
The collaborated work in this proposal will develop a horizon-based optical navigation (OPNAV) instrument for autonomous cislunar and deep space navigation for small spacecraft. The proposers address the several known technical challenges in this project by maturating a wide field of view (FOV) OPNAV and improving OPNAV algorithms and integration into a small spacecraft form factor (1U). Both principal investigator and NASA partner were involved with Orion's OPNAV system in the recent Artemis 1 mission, and the proposed solution will leverage helpful information from that flight certified system. Optical navigation technology advancement is essential for beyond Earth exploration since the drive for autonomous spacecraft is necessary for long-term, deep space missions that do not have access to Earth communications. This proposal provides a small, low power and cost OPNAV system that has the potential to address the autonomous navigation challenges beyond Earth.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — 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.