Spaceflight Compatible Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock (OASIC)

For this ECI, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) will develop a spaceflight compatible Optical 
Atomic Strontium Ion Clock (OASIC), in partnership with National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Stable Laser Systems (SLS). OASIC will merge 
GSFC’s expertise in developing spaceflight instruments, NIST’s atomic clock expertise, and 
SLS’s expertise in laser systems to control atoms to develop a high-performance spaceflight 
compatible atomic clock for future NASA missions. OASIC is an excellent candidate for 
spaceflight; it is based on strontium ion (Sr+) which due to its atomic structure is minimally 
impacted by environmental effects, can rely on as few as two lasers for operation, is based on a
low Size Weight and Power (SWaP) wafer-chip ion trap design, and can provide timing signals 
that are at least 10× better than current state-of-the-art space qualified microwave atomic clocks. 
For this program we aim for clock stability ~10-14/√t, where t is averaging time, and fractional 
systematic uncertainty at the 10-17 level.
 

Precision timing is required to navigate, explore, and understand our universe. On Earth, we utilize 
timing signals without realizing it while using GPS, the internet, cell phones, and even electricity. 
This critical timing infrastructure relies on highly stable atomic clocks, however these devices are 
large, closely monitored, laboratory based systems that cannot operate outside environmentally 
stabilized buildings. NASA’s Artemis Moon-to-Mars Mission aims to develop a sustained human 
presence on the Moon and Mars and will need to recreate these timing networks for use beyond 
Earth’s orbit. NASA’s space-based Event Horizon Explorer will require high performance 
timing signals from atomic clocks to image and understand black holes, which is a priority of 
the NASA 2020 Astronomy and 
Astrophysics Decadal Survey.
Optical clocks can sense changing 
gravitational potentials, and enable 
relativistic geodesy at the submeter 
scale, mapping water flow and 
Earth’s dynamic gravitational 
potential, which is a NASA Decadal 
Priority for Earth Science. These 
clocks enable planetary mapping, 
giving insight into planetary 
composition and formation, a 
NASA Decadal Priority for 
Planetary Science. Optical atomic clocks are specifically called out as a needed technology for
fundamental physics tests such as gravitational wave, and dark matter detection in the NASA 
Biological and Physical Sciences Fundamental Physics decadal survey that was released in Fall 
2023. These missions require simple, compact, space-qualified atomic clocks to produce high 
performance timing signals with fractional accuracies of <10-16. However, the current 
technological readiness of laboratory optical atomic clocks is far from space compatible as the 
clocks rely on multiple stabilized laser systems, complex hardware, and specialized personnel to 
operate. We propose to develop an Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock (OASIC), which is a
relatively simple, robust, space-qualifiable optical atomic clock design that supports a hundredfold increase in performance over the highly successful space-demonstrated microwave atomic 
clock, NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC).
 

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.