The Landolt Mission

The Landolt mission is a timely and low-cost (~$13 million) 12U CubeSat mission that will provide significant improvement in the accuracy of photometric measurements of stellar fluxes. This will be accomplished with a high accuracy National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) calibrated suite of laser beacons which will be observable from selected ground-based observatory stations. Landolt will improve the photometric accuracy to <0.5% at visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths for >60 target stars – improving upon the half-century old techniques that use ground-based blackbodies and calibrated lamps along with with model stellar atmospheres. The Landolt mission will allow us to re-calibrate the brightnesses of millions of stars. Such measurements can only be achieved by a space-based orbiting artificial star, where the physical photon flux is accurately known. Consequently, Landolt will enable the refinement of dark energy parameters, improve our ability to assess the habitability of terrestrial worlds, and advance fundamental constraints on stellar evolution. Accuracy of absolute flux zero points is now the limiting error budget term in the characterization of stars, be they standard stars or exoplanet hosts, because the Gaia mission has revolutionized our knowledge of stellar distances for the nearest billion stars. Similarly, the accuracy of the ratio of the VIS/NIR absolute flux calibration zero point is the limiting error budget term in the Supernovae (SNe) Ia cosmological constraints on dark energy, a key science goal of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Rubin). The spacecraft bus will be provided by a private space company, and the payload will build on the mission heritage of a previous cubesat mission. We will use a rideshare to achieve a baseline Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), with a lower altitude orbit for our threshold mission. The payload consists of two sets of two VIS and two NIR single mode fiber lasers, to create an artificial star for which we know the photon rate transmitted to the telescope aperture and detectors to the required flux uncertainty of <0.5%. By modulating the lasers on and off, recording the emitted flux via NIST-calibrated onboard photodiodes, pre-launch beam profile characterization, monitoring the power and temperature of the lasers, and with precision pointing knowledge, we will be able to reconstruct the absolute flux knowledge of the artificial star. During passes of the spacecraft, we will be able to precisely calibrate the absolute flux of nearby celestial targets to a level not yet achieved.

"Pioneers", Astrophysics space and sub-orbital science investigations that are greater in cost, scope and capability than what is possible within the Astrophysics Research and Analysis (APRA) program (D.3 of ROSES-2021) but are smaller in cost than what is possible within the Astrophysics Explorers Mission of Opportunity (MO) program (e.g., PEA Q of SALMON-3 for the 2021 opportunity). Investigations are solicited using platforms that include cubesats (including constellations), SmallSats, lunar surface hosted payloads via the Commercial Lunar Payloads Services (CLPS) program, major balloon missions, and International Space Station (ISS)-attached payloads. Technology development and maturation within the proposed project is allowed, but the primary review criterion for selection is the merit of the proposed science investigation.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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.