Direct RF Digitization Receiver for Multi-GNSS Receiver and More

Completed TRL 3 (started at 1, targeting 3)

Description

Multiple Global Navigation Satellite Systems (Multi-GNSS) will revolutionize the world of satellite navigation. In the early 2020s, many different interoperable signals (GPS III, Galileo, BeiDou, etc.) will come online, allowing for better navigation and a new range of applications for space users. To take advantage of the new systems, this IRAD will develop, using a new Xilinx FPGA hardware platform, a new kind of space GPS receiver that will allow the frequency band to be selected through firmware and be reprogrammable in flight. This new GPS receiver approach will allow for a flexible and modular capability that has never been available before in a space flight GPS receiver, with applications to communications and possibly radio-science.

Benefits

GPS has revolutionized satellite navigation. In the next five years, there will be a second revolution with the emergence of multi-GNSS. In the early 2020s, the US GPS Block III and IIIF satellites, with a full range of modernized and multi-GNSS interoperable signals, will come online, while at the same time the global European Galileo, Chinese Beidou, and multiple regional and satellite-based augmentation systems will become fully operational with all-told 100+ satellites each transmitting multiple new signals. A new range of applications promise to follow, but only for receivers that can take advantage of the new signals and systems.

Details

Technology area	Sensors and Instruments > Remote Sensing Instruments and Sensors > Microwave, Millimeter Waves, and Submillimeter Waves
Program	Center Independent Research & Development: GSFC IRAD (GSFC IRAD)
Lead organization	Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Start date	2019-10-01
End date	2021-09-30

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Kendall D Mauldin — kendall.d.mauldin@nasa.gov
Lavida D Cooper — lavida.d.cooper@nasa.gov
Lonnie M Labonte — lonnie.labonte@nasa.gov

How to get involved

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — 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.