Lightweight Tunable Infrared Filter, Phase II

Michigan Aerospace Corporation has developed spaceflight qualified compact tunable Fabry-Perot interferometers for a number of applications, from ranging direct detection Doppler wind LIDAR applications to IR spectroscopy. Under a previous phase I SBIR, Michigan Aerospace developed a design for a spaceflight qualified lightweight tunable Fabry-Perot etalon for cryogenic applications utilizing reaction bonded silicon carbide for the etalon mount and support rings and successfully delivered a mount and rings cast from silicon carbide for use in a phase II, or another application, to house an etalon. Under the proposed phase II effort, Michigan Aerospace will develop and fabricated a lightweight, rugged tunable Fabry-Perot interferometer that will be spaceflight qualified. Also, under this proposed phase II effort, Michigan Aerospace will design and produce a digital etalon controller. Further, Michigan Aerospace will produce a detailed plan by which the digital etalon controller design can be transitioned from demonstration unit to flight qualified hardware.

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.