ISSUE: 66 | September 2023

In This Issue

Community of Practice

࡟ October 4 Webinar: Introducing the Space Tech Catalyst Prize Competition

Recent Flights

࡟ Exploring Optical Communications in the Stratosphere

Opportunities

࡟ NASA Seeks Judges for TechRise Student Challenge 2023-24

࡟ Coming Soon: TechLeap Prize Challenge

Events

࡟ Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Fall Meeting, October 10-11, 2023

࡟ ASCEND, October 23-25, 2023

࡟ Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities (COSMIC) Kickoff Meeting, 

November 7-8, 2023

࡟ Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), 

November 14-18, 2023

࡟ American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 11-15, 2023

Enjoy!

The Flight Opportunities team
Community of Practice

Introducing the Space Tech Catalyst Prize Competition

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. PT

Join us for this month’s Community of Practice webinar to learn more about the launch of the Space 

Tech Catalyst Prize. The NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize will engage and celebrate individuals 

and organizations who amplify the capabilities of underrepresented space technology innovators 

and researchers. Numerous awards of $25,000 will be made, and awardees will be invited to an inperson convening event in Washington, D.C. at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Hear more 

about the challenge from its creators: Denna Lambert, inclusive innovation team lead for ESIP (Early 

Stage Innovations and Partnerships Portfolio), and Lynn Van Deventer, challenge coordinator with the 

agency’s CoECI (Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation).

Flight Opportunities encourages the community to engage in these conversations, and participants 

are welcome to submit questions prior to the webinar to enable more directed responses. Please send 

questions to nasa-flightopportunities@mail.nasa.gov. (Please note that in the event of a government 

shutdown, this webinar will be rescheduled.)

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Or call in (audio only)

+1 256-715-9946 

Phone Conference ID: 301 927 575#

See all Community of Practice webinars

Do you have ideas or suggestions for a future Community of Practice topic? We’d love to hear 

your thoughts. Email us at NASA-Flightopportunities@mail.nasa.gov to tell us what you’d like to 

see.
Recent Flight

Exploring Optical Communications in the Stratosphere

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific successfully demonstrated an optical communication link 

from the ground to a stratospheric balloon on August 30, 2023, as part of the Stratospheric Optical 

Link Demonstration (SOLD) project with essential support and collaboration from NASA’s Ames 

Research Center. SOLD is designed to explore optical communications in the stratosphere and 

demonstrate the supporting capabilities needed to achieve such optical links while also overcoming 

the challenges of operating in the stratospheric environment.

Credits: Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

Opportunities

NASA Seeks Judges for TechRise Student 

Challenge 2023-24

Do you or your colleagues have expertise in engineering, 

space, and/or atmospheric research? NASA is looking 

for volunteer judges for the 2023-24 TechRise 

Student Challenge! Volunteers must be willing to offer 

approximately five hours of time to review proposals for experiments flying on rocket-powered landers 

or high-altitude balloons. The judging period is approximately October 23 - November 10, 2023. 

TechRise is open to students in grades six to 12 attending U.S. public, private, or charter schools – 

including those in U.S. territories. It offers participants hands-on insight into the payload design and 

suborbital flight test process, with the goal of inspiring a deeper understanding of space exploration, 

Earth observation, coding, electronics, and the value of test data.

Learn more about TechRise and submit an interest form.
Opportunities (cont.)

Coming Soon: NASA TechLeap Prize Challenge!

NASA is set to unveil the next TechLeap Prize challenge 

in October! Sponsored by NASA’s Flight Opportunities 

program, the TechLeap Prize competition provides 

funding and access to suborbital flight testing for space 

technologies that meet a specific agency need. The 

competition is open to qualified commercial businesses, 

academic institutions, entrepreneurs, and other innovators.

Previous challenges focused on advancing autonomous precision pointing systems for small 

spacecraft and sensing systems that detect hazards to help spacecraft land safely in the dark. 

Read about the TechLeap Prize competition. 

Events

Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Fall Meeting

October 10-11

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

LSIC’s fall meeting will focus on the United States, NASA, and Space Tech’s vision for enabling the 

development of resilient lunar infrastructure at the South Pole of the Moon during Artemis. Panels, 

discussions, and working sessions will include topics such as minimum viable infrastructure, telerobotics, autonomous robotics and activities, repurposing/re-using initial materials for evolving lunar 

infrastructure, and/or keeping tabs on technical systems health. The Flight Opportunities team will 

participate in a lightning talk and a poster session.

ASCEND

October 23-25

Las Vegas, Nevada

ASCEND connects the civil, commercial, and national security space sectors, along with adjacent 

industries, to embrace the opportunities and address the challenges that come with increased activity 

in space. The conference enables technical exchanges, debates, and collaboration to help forge a 

sustainable off-world future. Members of the Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology 

program teams will lead a discussion on the complementary role that suborbital flight testing and 

orbital platforms hosting payloads play in the rapid testing of space technologies. 
Events (cont.)

Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities (COSMIC) Kickoff Meeting

November 7-8

College Park, MD

The COSMIC Kickoff will connect a diverse forum of users, customers, developers, and researchers 

to accelerate the widespread adoption of in-space servicing and manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities as 

an integrated segment of the space enterprise architecture. The event will introduce COSMIC, align 

members with key focus areas, and define specific products for future development.

Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR)

November 14-18, 2023

Washington, D.C.

The ASGSR annual meeting brings together the biological and physical space sciences community 

to share research, build collaborations, and discuss emerging issues in the field. ASGSR welcomes 

scientists and engineers from all career stages. The Flight Opportunities team will have a session at 

the meeting. Stay tuned for details. 

American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting

December 11-15, 2023

San Francisco, California

The AGU annual meeting convenes 25,000 attendees from 100+ countries to share research 

and connect with scientists and colleagues. Scientists, educators, policymakers, journalists, and 

communicators attend AGU to better understand our planet and environment and collaborate 

on solutions for global challenges. This year’s conference theme is: Wide. Open. Science. Flight 

Opportunities will be supporting an innovation session on commercial suborbital flight testing.

Have ideas or feedback for the Flight Opportunities newsletter?

Drop us a line at: 

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov

STAY CONNECTED: 

NASA Flight Opportunities Program

Flight Opportunities is part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

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