Flight Demonstration of an Integrated Camera and Solid-State Fine Steering System

The goal of this project is to test and demonstrate technologies for the stabilization of balloon-borne telescopes. At altitudes near 120,000 ft, NASA's balloon payloads float above 99.5% of the atmosphere, where there is virtually no image degradation due to atmospheric turbulence. In theory, large stratospheric telescopes could provide visible images as sharp as those obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope.

This camera and telescope technology for use on high-altitude balloons will benefit the search for exoplanets and thus, future NASA missions.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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.