Non-Foil High Barrier Food Packaging Materials for Human Centered Spacecrafts, Phase I

This project aims to develop food packaging technologies for extending shelf-live toward maintaining healthy diet and psychological well being of the space crew. The underlying technology builds on sol-gel core competency of the company. InnoSense LLC (ISL) will collaborate with the Food Technology Department at Ohio State University (OSU) for independent testing of the Flexible ORMOSIL Nanocomposite (Flexorn^TM) barrier materials. Through an iterative process of coating and testing, the Phase I project would demonstrate: (a) that the Flexorn barrier can be deposited onto polymeric substrates and can be adhesively bonded to a polypropylene layer for food packaging applications; (b) achievement of water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) < than 1 g/m2-day and oxygen transmission rate (OTR) < than 1 cc/m2-day for the flexible thin-film barrier. The focus of Phase II will be optimization of the barrier architecture, and the evaluation of prototype flexible pouches for their mechanical and barrier properties after retorting, a process typically used to package reheatable foods in flexible packaging applications. Prominent members of the Center for Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies (CAPPS) at OSU (e.g., Kraft Foods) have expressed strong interest in applying this NASA-funded technology to expand their market shares.

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.