Easy-to-use Payload Interoperable Integration Carrier (EPIIC)

The Easy-to-Use Payload Interoperable Integration Carrier (EPIIC) technology designed by Aegis Aerospace is a modular experiment and payload adapter to enable simple, rapid, and interchangeable integration onto host vehicles. EPIIC combines mounting; power; and command, data, and handling in a mass-optimized package. This flight test aims to validate EPIIC’s ability to provide structural support, power, and communications and data handling for the selected payload. The technology was designed to meet a need for an optimized plug-and-play interface that easily integrates laboratory payloads, including scientific instruments and experiments, onto suborbital vehicles, orbital platforms, and planetary landers. The design optimizes mass and volume to lower costs for payload developers.

Problem Statement
One of the many complex aspects of spaceflight is the interface design for payloads that fly aboard host vehicles. Currently, there is no easy way to transfer payloads between flight vehicles. It is often ideal to get payloads to flight test as quickly as possible, but the process to ensure that a payload can interface appropriately with the flight vehicle can be complex and time-consuming because there are significant differences in the existing interfaces between payloads and parabolic flight vehicles, sounding rockets, and lunar landers.

Technology Maturation
This flight test is expected to validate EPIIC’s ability to provide structural support, power, and communications and data handling for selected payloads. Aegis Aerospace will use flight data to further optimize the EPIIC technology. The company anticipates having the flight-qualified system ready for purchase and use by late 2025.

- Simple: Uses only eight components to integrate payloads to flight vehicles - Interchangeable: Plug-and-play interface for suborbital vehicles, orbital platforms, or lunar landers - Optimized: Combines mounting, power, and communications in a minimized package

Future Customers
- Potential use in NASA missions for integration of laboratory payloads, including scientific instruments and experiments, onto suborbital vehicles, orbital platforms, and planetary landers
- Available for commercial flight provider payload integrations

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — 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.

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