MIDAS: Modular Interoperable Distributed Avionics and Software

Moon to Mars success will depend on government and industry partners delivering reliable systems within aggressive cost and schedule constraints. Avionics and software are critical enabling technologies for surface robotics, mobility systems, infrastructure, and spacesuits. However, bespoke electronics and control architectures slow iteration, increase integration burden, and amplify technical risk. MIDAS addresses this challenge through a catalog of modular, stackable hardware, firmware, and software building blocks. These low-cost, plug-and-play reference designs will accelerate future surface systems, improve maintainability, and mature critical control technologies towards a sustainable surface presence.

The project is expected to reduce avionics and software cost, schedule, and integration risk by providing reusable reference designs and a catalog of stackable hardware, firmware, and software building blocks for surface systems. Reprogrammable avionics, modular software, and reusable board designs will accelerate prototyping, simplify testing and troubleshooting, improve maintainability, and enable technologies to be adapted across spacesuits, satellites, robotic systems, rovers, science payloads, and surface infrastructure. Targeted use of radiation-tolerant and automotive-grade components could reduce avionics costs by up to 90 percent while maintaining appropriate reliability for a range of space applications. Publishing environmental test results for automotive-grade components will also reduce duplicated qualification efforts and help programs make more informed component-selection decisions. Together, these outcomes will help bootstrap commercial and government development of common products such as motor controllers and Ethernet switches while benefiting NASA, industry, defense, research institutions, and terrestrial users.

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.