Fri, May 18, 2012
Mission Concept Study Offered By Ball Aerospace
A mission concept study has been submitted to NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. for demonstrating a solar electric propulsion (SEP) technologies in space. Ball Aerospace was one of five companies awarded up to $600,000 by NASA in September 2011, to formulate a mission concept to demonstrate the solar electric propulsion technologies, capabilities, and infrastructure required for sustainable and affordable human presence in space. NASA will use the studies to plan and implement a future flight demonstration mission to test and validate those science technologies and capabilities.
"Ball Aerospace recognizes the mission enabling aspect of solar electric propulsion and our customer needs for SEP solutions," said Cary Ludtke, vice president of Ball's Civil and Operational Space business unit. "We believe we're the right-sized company with the right capabilities to take this space technology to the next level."
The current study focused on developing concepts that will be using technology at NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 or greater. Ball's mission concept supports NASA's goal to elevate SEP technologies in order to create more efficient and powerful solar-powered flight systems. Ball Aerospace worked with several companies to create an implementable solar electronic technology demonstration mission for NASA including: ATK Space Systems, Busek Co. Inc., Deployable Space Systems, Gray Research Inc., and the Southwest Research Institute.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. (Image provided by Ball Aerosapce)
More News
Aero Linx: International Business Aviation Council Ltd IBAC promotes the growth of business aviation, benefiting all sectors of the industry and all regions of the world. As a non->[...]
"During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that 'Lil' needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-cove>[...]
Also: Bushcat Woes, Hummingbird 300 SL 4-Seat Heli Kit, Carbon Cub UL The newest Junkers is a faithful recreation that mates a 7-cylinder Verner radial engine to the airframe offer>[...]
Also: Seaplane Pilots Association, Rotax 916’s First Year, Gene Conrad After a decade and a half of struggling with the FAA and other aero-politics, G100UL is in production a>[...]
Also: Martha King Scholarship, Montaer Grows, Textron Updates Pistons, FlySto The FAA is hiring thousands of air traffic controllers, but the window to apply will only be open for >[...]