Orbital Drag Calibration Object Design Study

Every satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is continuously perturbed by atmospheric drag — a force that, if poorly characterized, leads to inaccurate orbit predictions, unnecessary collision avoidance maneuvers, uncertainty in reentry forecasts, and increased risk across the growing LEO economy. The only operational system that characterizes this drag environment in real time is the Department of War’s (DoW) High Accuracy Satellite Drag Model (HASDM), which relies on an ad hoc collection of satellites and space debris tracked by ground radar. Its calibration data is unavailable to civil and commercial operators in real time and lacks the quality and timeliness needed for modern operations. This IRAD is designing the world's first purpose-built, openly licensed, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)-enabled orbital drag calibration object constellation — small spacecraft with fully-characterized drag properties that deliver thermospheric density data at low latency, providing data that will enable space weather operators to improve on HASDM using openly-available data. The design is compatible with commercial CubeSat form factors and rideshare deployment, enabling a scalable constellation that can be manufactured, deployed, and operated by multiple civil and commercial parties. Critically, commercial operators can use these objects to characterize the drag environment near their own constellations without sharing proprietary spacecraft properties — the calibration object serves as an independent, openly documented reference.

World's first purpose-built, openly licensed, GNSS-enabled orbital drag calibration object constellation design; thermospheric density data at low latency; enables civil/commercial operators to improve on DoW HASDM using open data; compatible with commercial CubeSat form factors and rideshare deployment.

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.