High Temperature Inflation Hoses and Ports for Next Generation Inflatable Heat Shields

The SOTA HIAD inflation hoses and port components currently limit the scalability of overall HIAD design as they significantly choke the maximum allowable gas flow. The proposed innovation, increasing the scale of these components, would result in at least a 2.5x increase in the hydraulic diameter of the hoses, allowing a far greater mass flow rate. In PH I, JBE developed manufacturing methods for these components. In PH II, the constructions will be optimized, and integration methods into HIAD tori will be developed. To determine the optimal configuration of new components, they will be tested with custom equipment designed and fabricated under this contract specifically to simulate the physical and thermal stresses experienced by the inflatable structure during packing, inflation, and atmospheric re-entry.

Human Mars landing missions and HIAD-based atmospheric re-entry projects. Deployable decelerator technology will increase mission capabilities for Mars, Venus, and beyond. HIAD is considered a key technology for human rated Mars Entry Descent and Landing (EDL). A HIAD will enable delivery of an estimated 20 metric tons of payload required to support human exploration of Mars. • United States industrial defense and DoD sectors, the commercial and private space industry including reusable launch vehicle systems, atmospheric re-entry vehicles e.g., safely delivering payloads from space to earth, and inflatable space habitats. • Companies such as United Launch Alliance (ULA), SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman, which develop spacecraft and launch vehicles requiring advanced re-entry technologies. • Private space companies exploring inflatable structures for habitats, planetary bases, and Earth re-entry solutions.

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.