Strengthening Our Space Technology Future: Snapshots of Success

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

First of all, large solar cell arrays convert collected sunlight energy to electrical power. That energy is fed into exceptionally fuel-efficient thrusters that provide gentle but nonstop thrust throughout the mission. SEP thrusters are designed to use 10 times less propellant than comparable, conventional chemical propulsion systems.

Early SEP progress was spearheaded by ATK Aerospace and Deployable Space Systems. Working with NASA, the companies completed ground testing of large, high-power solar arrays that can be folded into small, lightweight packages for rocket launch.

In fiscal year 2015, a SEP team successfully tested a new 12.5-kilowatt Hall thruster that employs magnetic shielding making it capable of operating continuously for years—a capacity important to supporting deep space exploration missions.

“We’re very proud of this STMD technology infusion story in regards to SEP,” Jurczyk advises.

Focus on the future

Jurczyk said that NASA is poised for more technological progress in the coming years.

In particular, planning is jelling on a 2019 in-space demonstration of high-performance, high-bandwidth laser communications from deep space to Earth. “It’s important not only for NASA and other government agency partners, but also for the commercial satellite operators,” Jurczyk said.

In moving forward into the next year, “I am committed to the view that the more you fly, the faster you learn,” Jurczyk explains.

That passion is bolstered by NASA’s recently announced partnerships with nearly two dozen U.S. companies under the “Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Tipping Point Technologies” and the “Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Emerging Space Technology System Capabilities” solicitations. The objective of these partnerships is to advance the agency’s goals for robotic and human exploration of the solar system by guiding the development of critical space technologies.

From robotic in-space manufacturing, pushing forward on small spacecraft propulsion systems to diminutive and less power-hungry instruments for remote sensing applications, Jurczyk said, “we’re looking forward to moving those contracts and Space Act Agreements into place and developing some fascinating technologies.”

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