Nodes

The Nodes mission was a follow on to the EDSN swarm mission that was lost in a launch vehicle failure. Nodes explored issues associated with the command and control of multi-spacecraft swarms by: relaying ground commands through one satellite to the second satellite, collecting and relaying science data between satellites, and autonomously determining which of the two satellites was best situated to control the space network and relay data to the ground.

Swarm technologies have the potential to provide flexible data correlation and distribution, system redundancy, simplification of satellite operations and the enabling of new multi- satellite science investigations through distributed architectures, sensor webs and disaggregated systems. These architectures can provide enhanced scientific data collection at reduced cost for industry, university researchers, NASA and other government agencies.

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.