Earth Independent Operations Vehicle Systems (EIO-VS)

The Vehicle Systems (VS) Portfolio within the MCO EIO Domain is responsible for the maturation of hardware elements that will provide data and computational power to enable increasingly Earth-independent spacecraft and systems. The VS Portfolio will allow for development and testing of spacecraft subsystems to gain greater insight into nominal operations, anomalies, and failures. Existing and future testbeds across the agency will be assessed for ease of technological injection via increasing sensor density, automatization, and integration with other systems (ie ECLSS and power). These technology upgrades will provide testbed telemetry to train AR software in trend and status health of spacecraft systems without risking flight hardware

The EGT Hardware Project, VS-1, utilizes ECLSS ground testbeds at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to enhance the buildout of fault detection and diagnosis algorithms to enable future system autonomy. The goal is to have an Anomaly Response enabled testbed that can monitor overall system health and identify trends and emerging issues that could lead to a system failure or fault.

The AMPS Testbed Project, VS-2, will leverage Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS) hardware located at Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The overall goal of FY25 was refurbishment of the AMPS unit at GRC to a fully operational flight-prototype testbed for integration, analysist, and validation of advanced controls algorithms.

The High Performance Space Computer Lab Project, VS-3, will create the infrastructure necessary to develop, test, and operate Earth Independent Operations (EIO) applications on a High-Performance Space Computer (HPSC) architecture. The HPSC test lab will provide users with the ability to test diverse flight software architectures to evaluate their performance and characterize their use with the HPSC boards in a controlled test environment. The testing will inform the EIO domain on the ability to build, train, and run complex Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) algorithms on a flight-like HPSC architecture.

• Increased fidelity of AI an ML algorithms that could be utilized in deep space missions where communication with Earth will be difficult.
• Provide a HPSC lab that can be utilized across the agency to test out flight software, applications, and AI/ML models.

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.