HIAD for LEO Infusion (HIAD-LEO)

The purpose of this task is to develop a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) module for small-scale entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions, which supports companies that would otherwise not have the capital to invest in a custom-designed HIAD solution and simultaneously increasing NASA's potential to acquire reentry flight data for the technology performance in varying environments. The HIAD Portfolio, over the last several years, has been approached by several small companies that have provided funding to investigate the feasibility of using a HIAD to support their EDL needs. Each time NASA has engaged with the smaller companies, the solution space has been hampered by the inability for small companies to invest in the non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs necessary to support a custom-designed HIAD solution. While recurring costs are within the scope of each company’s budget, the upfront cost to establish the capability requires more capital than is typically available. This leaves small businesses unable to make use of NASA’s technology in the same way that larger companies are able to. There are three elements that will be worked on during this task. The three elements are: 1. Small Sat HIAD Development will design a HIAD module (~3m scale), enable vendors’ tooling to be scalable and adjustable (supporting the HIAD module design), and design a “standardized” instrumentation suite for the nose cap of the HIAD module. 2. The Materials Development effort will focus on developing capability for strength testing materials, evaluating an alternative for Zylon material that eliminates observed degradation issues, enabling a storage location that adheres to the unique storage needs of Zylon materials, and evaluating lower cost options for flexible thermal protection layers. 3. The Gas Generators Development effort will focus on developing an alternative to the standard blow-down system that is currently used. By moving from compressed gas to gas generators, HIAD solutions could endure longer in space with lower volume and, potentially, mass options.

​​The purpose of this task is to develop a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) module for small-scale entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions, which supports companies that would otherwise not have the capital to invest in a custom-designed HIAD solution and simultaneously increasing NASA's potential to acquire reentry flight data for the technology performance in varying environments. Each time NASA has engaged with the smaller companies, the solution space has been hampered by the inability for small companies to invest in the non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs necessary to support a custom-designed HIAD solution. This task supports NASA's strategic goal to catalyze economic growth and drive innovationi to address national challenges. The task could open the small-scale market to more small business companies than those who can currently afford it. The task will investigate the benefit of alternative materials to provide lower cost options than those current used. A benefit of moving from compressed gas to gas generators is that HIAD solutions could endure longer in space with lower volume and, potentially, mass options.​​

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.