Contract Detail

IGF::OT::IGF A COMMERCIAL SOURCE IS NEEDED FOR SOFTWAREDEFINED NEAREARTH TRANSCEIVERS (SDNESTS) THAT: (1) INTEROPERATE WITH EXISTING SN RELAYS AND NEN GROUND TERMINALS AND SERVICES (2) ARE COMPLIANT WITH THE NASA'S SPACE TELECOMMUNICATIONS RADIO SYSTEM (STRS) ARCHITECTURE STANDARD FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIOS (SDRS) AND (3) HELP NASA MISSIONS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (OGAS) TRANSITION TO THE FUTURE NEAR EARTH SPACE COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE WHERE CONNECTIVITY, AVAILABILITY AND BANDWIDTH ON DEMAND WILL BE AS UBIQUITOUS AS TODAY'S INTERNET. TO DATE, NO STANDARD USER SPACECRAFT COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTER/RECEIVER (TRANSCEIVER) EXISTS THAT ALLOWS A SPACE MISSION TO INTEROPERATE WITH THE FULL RANGE OF COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AVAILABLE FROM NASA'S SPACE NETWORK (SN) TDRSS RELAYS AND NEAR EARTH NETWORK (NEN) GROUND TERMINALS IN THE NEAR EARTH ENVIRONMENT. IN FACT, EVEN THE HIGH CAPACITY COMMUNICATIONS SINGLE ACCESS CAPABILITIES OF THE SN IN KABAND ARE UNDERUTILIZED DUE IN PART TO LACK OF AFFORDABLE SPACEQUALIFIED TRANSCEIVERS. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF A COMMON SDNEST THAT CAN BE USED BY A WIDE RANGE OF NEAREARTH MISSIONS, SPACE MICRO'S UNIVERSAL TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE (UTR) RF MODULE DEVELOPED UNDER A PHASE II CONTRACT NEEDS TO BE REFINED FOR OPERATION IN THE EXACT FREQUENCY SPECTRUM ALLOCATIONS OF THE SN AND NEN. THEN, THE UTR RF MODULE NEEDS TO BE INTEGRATED WITH THE BEST CAPABILITIES OF SPACE MICRO'S EXISTING COMMERCIAL TRANSMITTER (E.G. UTX300 KABAND TRANSMITTER), RECEIVER, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING SDR PRODUCTS INTO AN INTEGRATED SDNEST. THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE SBIR PHASE II UTR RF FRONT END INTEGRATED WITH THE REMAINING TRANSCEIVER ASPECTS AND VERIFIED FOR COMPLIANCE WITH NASA'S SPACE NETWORKS WILL PROVIDE THE GREATEST BENEFIT TO NASA, NAMELY, A SINGLE, INTEGRATED TRANSCEIVER PRODUCT READY FOR MISSION USE. EXPECTED BENEFITS AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGY MATURATION EFFORTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: * NEW CAPABILITIES: REFINE AND INTEGRATE THE FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SPACEQUALIFIABLE SOFTWARE DEFINED TRANSCEIVER THAT CAN OPERATE WITH THE SAND KABAND CAPABILITIES OF THE SN AND NEN, WITH OPEN WAVEFORMS COMPLIANT WITH THE STRS STANDARD. *IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:ADVANCE THE TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SDNEST TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE AT DATA RATES AT LEAST 4X TO 10X HIGHER THAN CURRENT NASA MISSION TRANSCEIVERS IN THE SAME FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH. *GREATER RELIABILITY: ENSURE THAT THE SDNEST CAN OPERATION WITH THE SN IN BOTH S, AND KABANDS AND WITH THE NEN IN SAND KABAND, THUS OFFERING MORE OPERATIONAL OPTIONS TO MISSIONS AND IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS RELIABILITY. *COST SAVINGS: IMPLEMENT THE SDNEST IN COMPLIANCE WITH NASA?S STRS STANDARD FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED TRANSCEIVERS TO ENABLE BOTH PROPRIETARY COMMERCIAL INNOVATIONS AND USE OF A COMMON SET OF WAVEFORMS DEVELOPED BY OTHERS. THIS ALLOWS NASA MISSIONS TO SAVE ON CUSTOM SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT, AND MULTIPLE MISSIONS TO USE THE SAME TRANSCEIVERS AND SOFTWARE. *SPACE QUALIFICATION: THE SDNEST SPACE PROTOFLIGHT UNIT DEVELOPED UNDER OPTION #2 WILL UNDERGO ENVIRONMENTAL (I.E. VIBE, THERMAL) TESTING AT SPACE MICRO AND COMPATIBILITY TESTING WITH TDRS AT GRC. THIS WILL PROVIDE A HIGH TRL AND HIGH CONFIDENCE SDNEST FOR FUTURE MISSION USE. *USE BEYOND NASA: ULTIMATELY, THE SDNEST CAN BE USED BY MULTIPLE NASA MISSIONS, THOSE OF OGAS, AND POTENTIALLY COMMERCIAL SPACE VENTURES LIKE LOCKHEED MARTIN AND SPACEX AS WELL. THE POTENTIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF THE PROPOSED SDNEST IS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED USE OF THE KABAND CAPABILITIES OF THE EXISTING TDRS RELAYS AND EMERGING NEN GROUND TERMINALS BY NASA MISSIONS AND OGAS. THE SDNEST ALSO BECOMES A SOLID BUILDING BLOCK THAT WILL HELP NASA TRANSITION FROM ITS CURRENT INFRASTRUCTURE TO THE FUTURE INTERNETLIKE NEAREARTH COMMUNICATIONS ARCHITECTURE. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE STMP WILL PROVIDE THE FIRST INTEGRATED SBAND AND KABAND SOFTWARE DEFINED TRANSCEIVER THAT WORKS WITH BOTH THE TDRSS SPACE NETWORK AND NEAR EARTH NETWO

IGF::OT::IGF A COMMERCIAL SOURCE IS NEEDED FOR SOFTWAREDEFINED NEAREARTH TRANSCEIVERS (SDNESTS) THAT: (1) INTEROPERATE WITH EXISTING SN RELAYS AND NEN GROUND TERMINALS AND SERVICES (2) ARE COMPLIANT WITH THE NASA'S SPACE TELECOMMUNICATIONS RADIO SYSTEM (STRS) ARCHITECTURE STANDARD FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIOS (SDRS) AND (3) HELP NASA MISSIONS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (OGAS) TRANSITION TO THE FUTURE NEAR EARTH SPACE COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE WHERE CONNECTIVITY, AVAILABILITY AND BANDWIDTH ON DEMAND WILL BE AS UBIQUITOUS AS TODAY'S INTERNET. TO DATE, NO STANDARD USER SPACECRAFT COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTER/RECEIVER (TRANSCEIVER) EXISTS THAT ALLOWS A SPACE MISSION TO INTEROPERATE WITH THE FULL RANGE OF COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AVAILABLE FROM NASA'S SPACE NETWORK (SN) TDRSS RELAYS AND NEAR EARTH NETWORK (NEN) GROUND TERMINALS IN THE NEAR EARTH ENVIRONMENT. IN FACT, EVEN THE HIGH CAPACITY COMMUNICATIONS SINGLE ACCESS CAPABILITIES OF THE SN IN KABAND ARE UNDERUTILIZED DUE IN PART TO LACK OF AFFORDABLE SPACEQUALIFIED TRANSCEIVERS. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF A COMMON SDNEST THAT CAN BE USED BY A WIDE RANGE OF NEAREARTH MISSIONS, SPACE MICRO'S UNIVERSAL TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE (UTR) RF MODULE DEVELOPED UNDER A PHASE II CONTRACT NEEDS TO BE REFINED FOR OPERATION IN THE EXACT FREQUENCY SPECTRUM ALLOCATIONS OF THE SN AND NEN. THEN, THE UTR RF MODULE NEEDS TO BE INTEGRATED WITH THE BEST CAPABILITIES OF SPACE MICRO'S EXISTING COMMERCIAL TRANSMITTER (E.G. UTX300 KABAND TRANSMITTER), RECEIVER, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING SDR PRODUCTS INTO AN INTEGRATED SDNEST. THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE SBIR PHASE II UTR RF FRONT END INTEGRATED WITH THE REMAINING TRANSCEIVER ASPECTS AND VERIFIED FOR COMPLIANCE WITH NASA'S SPACE NETWORKS WILL PROVIDE THE GREATEST BENEFIT TO NASA, NAMELY, A SINGLE, INTEGRATED TRANSCEIVER PRODUCT READY FOR MISSION USE. EXPECTED BENEFITS AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGY MATURATION EFFORTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: * NEW CAPABILITIES: REFINE AND INTEGRATE THE FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SPACEQUALIFIABLE SOFTWARE DEFINED TRANSCEIVER THAT CAN OPERATE WITH THE SAND KABAND CAPABILITIES OF THE SN AND NEN, WITH OPEN WAVEFORMS COMPLIANT WITH THE STRS STANDARD. *IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:ADVANCE THE TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SDNEST TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE AT DATA RATES AT LEAST 4X TO 10X HIGHER THAN CURRENT NASA MISSION TRANSCEIVERS IN THE SAME FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH. *GREATER RELIABILITY: ENSURE THAT THE SDNEST CAN OPERATION WITH THE SN IN BOTH S, AND KABANDS AND WITH THE NEN IN SAND KABAND, THUS OFFERING MORE OPERATIONAL OPTIONS TO MISSIONS AND IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS RELIABILITY. *COST SAVINGS: IMPLEMENT THE SDNEST IN COMPLIANCE WITH NASA?S STRS STANDARD FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED TRANSCEIVERS TO ENABLE BOTH PROPRIETARY COMMERCIAL INNOVATIONS AND USE OF A COMMON SET OF WAVEFORMS DEVELOPED BY OTHERS. THIS ALLOWS NASA MISSIONS TO SAVE ON CUSTOM SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT, AND MULTIPLE MISSIONS TO USE THE SAME TRANSCEIVERS AND SOFTWARE. *SPACE QUALIFICATION: THE SDNEST SPACE PROTOFLIGHT UNIT DEVELOPED UNDER OPTION #2 WILL UNDERGO ENVIRONMENTAL (I.E. VIBE, THERMAL) TESTING AT SPACE MICRO AND COMPATIBILITY TESTING WITH TDRS AT GRC. THIS WILL PROVIDE A HIGH TRL AND HIGH CONFIDENCE SDNEST FOR FUTURE MISSION USE. *USE BEYOND NASA: ULTIMATELY, THE SDNEST CAN BE USED BY MULTIPLE NASA MISSIONS, THOSE OF OGAS, AND POTENTIALLY COMMERCIAL SPACE VENTURES LIKE LOCKHEED MARTIN AND SPACEX AS WELL. THE POTENTIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF THE PROPOSED SDNEST IS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED USE OF THE KABAND CAPABILITIES OF THE EXISTING TDRS RELAYS AND EMERGING NEN GROUND TERMINALS BY NASA MISSIONS AND OGAS. THE SDNEST ALSO BECOMES A SOLID BUILDING BLOCK THAT WILL HELP NASA TRANSITION FROM ITS CURRENT INFRASTRUCTURE TO THE FUTURE INTERNETLIKE NEAREARTH COMMUNICATIONS ARCHITECTURE. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE STMP WILL PROVIDE THE FIRST INTEGRATED SBAND AND KABAND SOFTWARE DEFINED TRANSCEIVER THAT WORKS WITH BOTH THE TDRSS SPACE NETWORK AND NEAR EARTH NETWO