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Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)
Goddard's proposals in smaller form factor science missions has heavily increased in recent years. However, baselining these missions with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) communication solutions face challenges finding reliable flight hardware and compatibility with the NASA space network. We propose the development of an in-house communication solution and a Goddard-wide coordinated engineering effort to develop the next generation bus architecture for SmallSats.
The proposed communication solution provides a highly reliable, configurable design that is compatible with the NASA network. In addition, it will make use of sharing resources with other subsystems to provide mass, volume, and cost savings. This highly integrated solution is not possible with the use of COTS radios, and provides a unique and configurable design for implementation on SmallSat missions.
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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.
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