1

A Decade of Technology Maturation 

Through NASA’s Flight Opportunities 

Program

John W. Kelly1, 

Edmund M. Hamlin,2 Danielle D. McCulloch3, Lucas E. Moxey4, 

Robert W. Seibold5

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, 

CA 93523-5000, USA

G. Geyne Crispi6, Stephan F. Ord7, Alexander van Dijk8

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, PO Box 1, Moffett 

Field, CA 94035-1000, USA

Abstract

The Flight Opportunities program, within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate 

(STMD), facilitates rapid demonstration of promising technologies for space exploration, 

discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry 

flight providers. Over the past ten years, the program has matured capabilities needed for 

NASA missions and commercial applications while strategically investing in the growth of the 

U.S. commercial spaceflight industry. These flight demonstrations take technologies from 

ground-based laboratories into relevant environments to increase technology readiness and 

validate feasibility while reducing the costs and technical risks of future missions. Awards and 

agreements for flight demonstrations are open to researchers from industry, academia, nonprofit research institutes, and government organizations. These investments help advance 

technologies of interest to NASA while supporting commercial flight providers and expanding 

space-based applications and commerce. The impact of Flight Opportunities over the past 

decade has been significant, with numerous Flight Opportunities-supported innovations 

advancing to support NASA missions, including the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission, 

technologies for Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) lander vehicles and payloads, 

and technologies to support human landing systems (HLS). This paper will highlight the 

evolution of the program, the breadth of technologies that have been tested on a variety of 

suborbital platforms, and the impacts of these innovations both for NASA missions and the 

advancement of the commercial space industry. 

1 Program Manager, Flight Opportunities, AIAA Senior Member

2 Acquisitions Manager, Flight Opportunities 3 Program Support, Flight Opportunities, Fuentek, LLC 4 Technologist, Flight Opportunities

5 Senior Projects Manager, Flight Opportunities, The Aerospace Corporation, AIAA Associate Fellow

6 Operations Assistant, Flight Opportunities, Millennium Engineering & Integration Company 7 Chief Technologist, Flight Opportunities 8 Technologist, Flight Opportunities, Science & Technology Corporation

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I. Nomenclature

ACO = Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity

AFO = Announcement of Flight Opportunities

AFRL = Air Force Research Laboratory

AFTS = Autonomous Flight Termination System

AVA = Affordable Vehicle Avionics

CLPS = Commercial Lunar Payload Services

DSOC = Deep Space Optical Communications

FY = Fiscal Year

GPS = Global Positioning System

GN&C = Guidance, Navigation & Control

HLS = Human Landing Systems

JPL = NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

LVS = Lander Vision System

NRA = NASA Research Announcement

SBIR = Small Business Innovation Research

SLS = Space Launch System

Space Tech REDDI = Space Technology Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion 

STMD = Space Technology Mission Directorate

TRL = Technology Readiness Level 

TRN = Terrain-relative Navigation

II. Introduction

In the 2010 report “Revitalizing NASA’s Suborbital Program: Advancing Science, Driving Innovation and

Developing Workforce,” the National Academy of Sciences found that suborbital science missions were absolutely 

critical to building an aerospace workforce capable of meeting the needs of current and future human and robotic 

space exploration. In 2011, the Flight Opportunities program was established by NASA as a response to the NASA 

Authorization Act of 2010, Sec. 907: Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program. This act stated that the 

Administrator “...shall fund the development of payloads for scientific research, technology development, and 

education, and shall provide flight opportunities for those payloads to microgravity environments and suborbital 

altitudes.” The program is still in place nearly a decade later and continues to play a critical role in helping NASA 

achieve its space exploration objectives. 

Flight Opportunities facilitates rapid demonstration of promising technologies for space exploration, discovery, and 

the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. The program matures 

capabilities needed for NASA missions and commercial applications while strategically investing in the growth of the 

U.S. commercial spaceflight industry. These flight tests take technologies from ground-based laboratories into relevant 

environments to increase technology readiness and validate feasibility while reducing the costs and technical risks of 

future missions. 

Awards and agreements for flight test are open to researchers from industry, academia, non-profit research institutes, 

and government organizations, including NASA programs seeking suborbital testing to support technology 

development. These investments help advance technologies of interest to NASA while supporting commercial flight 

providers and expanding space-based applications and commerce. The technologies are tested on a variety of 

suborbital platforms, including high-altitude balloons, parabolic aircraft, and rocket-powered vehicles that include 

both suborbital reusable rocket systems that reach high altitudes, as well as vertical takeoff vertical landing systems 

that simulate lander vehicles.

III. Flight Opportunities by the Numbers

The impact of Flight Opportunities has been significant and far-reaching. While it is not possible to capture this 

impact in its entirety through numbers, a few simple metrics do tell a compelling story. Since 2011, Flight 

Opportunities has, as of June 30, 2020:

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• Selected 262 technologies into the portfolio, approximately one-third of which have transitioned to missions, 

programs, commercial partners, or further testing

• Supported 193 successful flights

• Enabled 689 tests of payloads

• Worked with 12 active commercial flight providers

Over the course of ten years, a number of the flight-test proposals selected by Flight Opportunities have been

evolutionary iterations of an initial innovation, resulting in a portfolio of approximately 160 distinct technologies that 

are of interest to NASA. 

The principal investigators responsible for the development and testing of these technologies determine the type of 

environment that is required to evaluate or advance the innovation. Many investigators leverage the ability to costeffectively and rapidly access suborbital flights to test their technology multiple times on the same vehicle, making 

adjustments to the technology between flights. Others take advantage of the variety of suborbital vehicles offered by 

the commercial providers to test on multiple platforms, enabling investigation of technology performance in various

environmental conditions. In many cases, several technology payloads are carried on a single suborbital flight, 

enabling simultaneous technology tests with a single launch. As a result, through the 193 successful Flight 

Opportunities-supported flights, a total of 689 payloads tests have been conducted. These tests have played a 

significant role in advancing technologies that have been selected to provide critical capabilities for NASA missions. 

IV. Flight Opportunities Community

Principal investigators testing technology through Flight Opportunities are part of a wide range of entities, including 

NASA, other government agencies, academic institutions, private research institutions, and non-profit organizations.

Figure 1 demonstrates the diversity of types of entities that make up the researcher community.

Fig. 1 Distribution of principal investigators by entity type (as of end of fiscal year [FY] 2019)

Flight Opportunities supports testing on a variety of vehicles, depending on the type of environment required to 

evaluate or advance the readiness of the technology. Commercial providers offer access to many vehicle types, each 

with its own unique environment and capabilities for testing. Suborbital flights enable researchers to test their 

hardware and procedures in conditions such as: 

• Variable gravity (micro-, lunar, and Martian gravity levels) 

Academia 42%

Government 26%

Commercial 19%

Research Institue 9%

Non-profit 3% Educational 1%

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• Planetary re-entry (high-altitude entry/descent and low-altitude descent/landing) 

• Solar and radiation exposure 

• Extreme temperatures and vacuum

The vehicles are generally grouped into three categories:

• High-altitude balloons - Large balloon systems reach a nominal altitude of 30 km and can also typically 

sustain the longest flight time of the suborbital vehicles—hours, days, or even weeks at a time. This makes 

them ideal for payloads that benefit from extended periods of data collection.

• Parabolic aircraft - These specialized airplanes achieve brief periods of variable gravity through a series of 

maneuvers called parabolas. They can be used for demonstrating technologies that need to operate in a 

specific gravity environment (e.g., lunar, Mars). 

• Rocket-powered vehicles - These vehicles include both reusable rocket systems that reach high altitudes, as 

well as lander vehicles. Both of these classes of vehicles are typically recoverable and reusable after launch. 

Suborbital testing can provide a cost-effective means to bridge the maturity gap between ground testing and orbital 

missions, as shown in Fig. 2. These flight tests offer an option for iterative testing as well as the opportunity to facilitate 

technology maturation, validate feasibility, and reduce technical risks for future missions.

Fig. 2 Suborbital testing serves as a bridge between ground tests and orbital missions

The type of vehicle selected for testing depends on the required test conditions (e.g., gravity level needs, length of 

microgravity period). Figure 3 highlights the breakdown of flight vehicle types requested by researchers. In some 

cases, multiple flights on a combination of vehicle types were requested.

As of August 2020, there are 12 active commercial flight providers participating in Flight Opportunities-supported 

tests. Some of these companies have a contract with NASA Flight Opportunities, while others are contracted 

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independently by principal investigators that have received awards from NASA to fund suborbital flight tests. 

Current flight providers active with the program include:

• Angstrom Designs

• BlackSky Aerospace

• Blue Origin

• EXOS Aerospace Systems and Technologies

• Masten Space Systems

• Near Space Corporation

• Raven Aerostar

• Stratodynamics

• Virgin Galactic

• UP Aerospace

• World View Enterprises

• Zero Gravity Corporation

Fig. 3 Distribution of requested flight vehicle type (as of end of FY 2019)

V. Technology Selection and Support Agreements

Over the ten-year history of the program, Flight Opportunities has continually worked to maximize impact. There 

were many challenges associated with the start of the program, particularly because NASA had not previously 

interacted with the commercial community in this fashion. One of the key challenges was matching technology 

development and testing needs to available flight-testing capabilities in a nascent marketplace. As the capabilities of 

both researchers and commercial flight providers have advanced, the technology selection and agreement mechanisms 

from NASA have evolved. The program continues to refine its support of technology development and testing in order 

to optimize results for NASA and the commercial marketplace.

Flight Opportunities focuses on technologies that fall between 4 and 7 on NASA’s Technology Readiness Level 

(TRL) scale (https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/engineering/technology/txt_accordion1.html). In the early 

days of the program, Flight Opportunities played a significant role in arranging flights for researchers and providing 

support in preparing payloads for flight test. The Announcement of Flight Opportunities (AFO) solicitation started in 

High-altitude balloon 14%

High-altitude balloon 

+ Rocket-powered 

vehicle 1%

Rocket-powered 

vehicle 37%

Parabolic aircraft + Rocket-powered vehicle 5%

Parabolic aircraft 

43%

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FY2011 to select and demonstrate payloads using commercial suborbital flights. Open to investigators both inside and 

outside of NASA, the AFO was the primary means of bringing technologies into the program.

In 2014, a solicitation named “Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital Flight Opportunities” was introduced 

as an Appendix to the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) titled "Space Technology Research, Development, 

Demonstration, and Infusion (Space Tech REDDI)” under the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) 

umbrella. This solicitation, now known as REDDI Tech Flights, replaced the AFO in FY2015. It uses grants and 

cooperative agreements to fund flights for the U.S. space research and technology development community.

NASA also has contracts in place with several commercial companies to provide testing for NASA payloads. 

Through these contracts, Flight Opportunities can support suborbital flight-testing requirements for researchers 

leading NASA technology advancement initiatives.

VI. Flight Opportunities Impacts

Testing performed with commercial flight providers can help increase the speed and effectiveness of the 

technology development process. As technologies are matured through rapid testing (and in many cases, reflight), they 

climb the technology readiness ladder, often transitioning to longer duration (e.g., orbital) testing opportunities or 

inclusion in NASA missions. In fact, nearly one-third of the 160 unique innovations tested with support from Flight 

Opportunities have gone on to support missions or become part of larger technology systems. The success of the Flight 

Opportunities-supported technologies below highlights how suborbital flight testing is helping NASA, the commercial 

space industry, and other government agencies achieve their goals. 

A. NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Providers

Four of the companies that were selected as eligible to bid on Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) 

contracts for NASA-contracted payload delivery services to the lunar surface leveraged Flight Opportunitiessupported suborbital flights to test technologies that are incorporated into their landers. These companies include 

Astrobotic, Blue Origin, Draper, and Masten Space Systems. Under CLPS, these companies bid on various aspects of 

NASA payload delivery, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth, and landing on the 

surface of the Moon. Under the Artemis program, early commercial delivery missions will perform science 

experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human 

missions. The first CLPS missions are slated for 2021.

B. NASA Human Landing System Providers 

Two of the three teams selected by NASA to develop human landing systems (HLS) for the Artemis program 

include companies that have served as flight providers or tested technologies through Flight Opportunities. Blue Origin 

is leading a team that includes Draper, and Draper is also part of a team led by Dynetics. The HLS will take astronauts 

to the lunar surface in the Artemis lunar exploration program. On early missions, the astronauts will live inside the 

pressurized crew cabin portion of the lander for up to a week.

C. Commercial Lunar Payload Services Selections

In 2019, NASA also selected science and technology payloads that will fly to the Moon aboard commercial landers. 

Several technologies that have been matured in part through commercial flight tests facilitated by Flight Opportunities 

were among the selections, including:

• PlanetVac from Honeybee Robotics – This pneumatic device attaches to the leg of a lander vehicle and 

enables fast, simple, and reliable collection of regolith for analysis. In addition to being selected for CLPS, 

the device was also infused into the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Martian Moons Exploration 

mission where it will capture regolith from the surface of Phobos. Flight Opportunities-supported 

demonstrations in 2018 proved the device’s ability to successfully capture a sample of simulated regolith in 

the Mojave Desert.

• Reconfigurable, Radiation-Tolerant Computer System from Montana State University – This system is 

implemented on a commercial off-the-shelf field programmable gate array and provides a reconfigurable and 

redundant architecture as well as robust, self-healing capabilities. Radiation-tolerant computing will be 

needed on the Moon, where the lack of atmosphere as well as the magnetic field and radiation from the Sun 

will be a challenge for most terrestrial electronics. Suborbital testing enabled researchers to test the power 

and data logging systems, evaluate thermal control analysis and data analysis systems, and confirm that the 

system was robust enough to survive tumultuous launch conditions.

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• Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder from Southwest Research Institute – The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder is 

designed to characterize the structure and composition of the Moon’s mantle by studying electric and 

magnetic fields. Flight Opportunities-supported tests to explore magnetometer technologies helped inform 

development of this sounder.

D. Lander Vision System for Mars Perseverance Rover

NASA’s Perseverance rover will rely on the lander vision system (LVS) developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory (JPL) to safely touch down on the Red Planet in February 2021. At the heart of the LVS is JPL’s terrainrelative navigation (TRN) system, which captures photos of the Mars terrain in real time and compares them with 

onboard maps of the landing area, autonomously directing the rover to divert around hazards and obstacles as needed. 

Successful closed-loop flight tests facilitated by Flight Opportunities demonstrated the system’s ability to 

autonomously change course on descent and adopt a newly calculated path to reach a target landing site.

E. Space-Based Additive Manufacturing

In 2016, Made in Space’s additive manufacturing facility went into service on the International Space Station, 

where it has produced over 200 tools, assets, and parts. Manufacturing of critical components in space can reduce 

operational costs and improve on-site repair capabilities for long-duration human exploration missions. Suborbital 

tests proved the ability to use additive manufacturing to produce parts in microgravity while also identifying 

operational challenges that were addressed through technology development and validated in additional suborbital 

flights prior to deployment to the station. 

F. Autonomous Flight Termination System

This subsystem from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center allows a rocket to independently determine if it is off course

and, if necessary, self-destruct. Because off-course rockets can place people and property in danger, a process to 

terminate a launch is essential. The Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) eliminates many of the timeconsuming and costly measures historically taken to monitor launches and issue destruction commands, such as 

ground personnel, transmitters, telemetry receivers, and radar. Suborbital testing enabled the technology to advance 

to TRL 9. It has been transferred to at least 35 recipients, including Department of Defense agencies and industry

(e.g., Rocket Lab, SpaceX) and is the focus of a NASA collaboration with the Italian Space Agency.

G. Astrobotic Auto-landing System

This system, which includes TRN, is a complete solution for applications in which GPS cannot be used. It is 

designed to achieve high precision and simplified mission integration at a relatively low cost. Astrobotic’s TRN system 

was further matured via a NASA Tipping Point award and is scheduled to fly on the company’s first lander trip to the 

Moon in 2021.

H. Radial Core Heat Spreader

This passive thermal control system from NASA’s Glenn Research Center uses a wick capillary mechanism to 

provide orders-of-magnitude improvement in thermal-to-electric power conversion efficiency and thermal 

conductance. This technology has been infused into the Nuclear Fission Project, an effort to develop an affordable 

fission nuclear power system that could enable long duration stays on planetary surfaces and power human outposts. 

Suborbital flights facilitated by Flight Opportunities verified the technology’s thermal performance and enabled 

testing of best- and worst-case configurations for future spacecraft. 

I. Vibration Isolation Platform

The vibration isolation platform is a payload mounting interface that includes active stabilization and 6-degree-offreedom, non-contact isolation for suborbital and orbital flights. It allows a payload to be undisturbed and float freely 

in the sway space of the platform. Controlled Dynamics was awarded several Small Business Innovation Research

(SBIR) awards, which led to selection of the vibration isolation platform for NASA’s Deep Space Optical

Communications (DSOC) platform. DSOC is scheduled to launch in 2022 aboard NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission. 

J. Microgravity Propellant Gauging

This non-invasive, inexpensive, robust method for gauging settled and unsettled propellant is designed to address 

immediate needs of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)/Orion architecture. Researchers from Carthage College 

leveraged flights supported by Flight Opportunities to help establish a baseline technology for the development of a 

NASA SLS/Orion demonstration project under development at NASA’s Johnson Space Center for Artemis III.

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VII. Seeking Continuous Improvement

The Flight Opportunities team is keenly interested in the outcomes of the technology flight testing activities, 

including lessons learned. Team members are constantly evaluating testing performance so that researchers and flight 

providers can ensure their work is as impactful as possible. The program has embarked on an effort to review flighttest reports from 2011-2019 and analyze data to identify lessons that can be shared with the community. 

As a first step, the program reviewed final reports from parabolic and high-altitude balloon flights, looking for 

lessons throughout the payload development and flight-test activities. One area of analysis was the achievement of 

flight objectives. Figure 4 shows the breakdown of flight tests based on the level of achievement of flight-test 

objectives. The categories are as follows: 

• High: 90% – 100% of flight test objectives met

• Medium: 65% - 89% of flight test objectives met

• Low: 0% - 64% of flight test objectives met

The green area of Fig. 4. illustrates that for nearly 90% of flight tests, 90% or greater of the flight test objectives were 

achieved. 

Although a large percentage of the flight-test activities for parabolic and balloon flights were successful, an 

analysis of the final reports indicates that there were challenges and lessons reported in numerous categories, including 

hardware, software, electrical, mechanical, procedural, experimental design, and communications/telemetry. Flight 

Opportunities actively seeks to understand when and why these challenges occur and communicate these findings to 

the suborbital research community with the goal of furthering the reliability and success of suborbital payload 

hardware and testing procedures. Ultimately, the information gained from the challenges and lessons learned 

encountered by suborbital researchers over a more than 10-year period will help researchers avoid preventable 

challenges while also enabling significant savings of time and resources. Relaying this information back to the 

community will also help ensure that mistakes are not repeated. The program strives to help both researchers and flight 

providers anticipate and overcome challenges so that they are more successful moving forward. 

The effort to identify lessons learned and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement within the suborbital flight 

test community is a work-in-progress. Flight Opportunities is currently analyzing data and final reports for rocketpowered flights. In addition, the team is exploring options for the community to share this type of data more broadly. 

Fig. 4 Breakdown of achievement of flight test objectives

VIII. Support for Small Launch Vehicle Technology Development

Flight Opportunities has supported the development of affordable U.S. commercial capabilities for dedicated small 

launch vehicles. Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity (ACO) partnerships and Tipping Point cost-contribution 

Medium, 8% (10 payloads)

Low , 5% (7 ...

High, 87% (112 Payloads)

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contracts were the two mechanisms through which NASA provided resources and expertise to aid industry partners in 

maturing key small launch technologies.

Several successful ACO collaborations are represented in the following examples:

A. LauncherOne Collaborative Opportunity to Advance Emerging Space Capabilities – Virgin Orbit and 

NASA’s Ames Research Center

Completed in 2018, this collaboration had three main research areas. The first—to develop aerodynamic and 

thermal models for the combined vehicle configuration of Cosmic Girl (a modified 747 carrier aircraft) and the 

LauncherOne launch vehicle—resulted in a large number of use cases developed by Ames and transferred to Virgin 

Orbit, including takeoff and landing, captive carry, and release scenarios. The second task was to develop an integrated 

simulation using NASA’s B747-400 flight simulator. Virgin Orbit pilots flew the Cosmic Girl/Launcher One simulator 

to validate the handling characteristics of the aircraft flight and release profiles. For the final task, the partners 

investigated various payload accommodation architectures and conducted a LauncherOne upper-stage trade study. 

Based on findings from this partnership, Virgin Orbit fabricated a 3D printed model of the third stage structure and 

prepared the associated design report. The successes from the partnership also facilitated a key drop test of 

LauncherOne from the Cosmic Girl aircraft at 35,000 feet on July 10, 2019 from the Mojave Air and Space Port.

B. Technology Maturation and Flight Validation for Air Launched Liquid Rockets – Generation Orbit and 

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center

This partnership involved a flight test campaign for an inert test article simulating the X-60A (formerly called 

GOLauncher1) integrated with a NASA C-20A aircraft, a military version of the Gulfstream III aircraft. The X-60A 

is an airdropped liquid rocket under development at Generation Orbit, designed for hypersonic flight research. The 

partnership between Generation Orbit and Armstrong was successfully completed in 2018 with three captive-carry 

flight tests of the test article. These tests provided valuable flight integration and performance data for the X-60A 

program, which will use a modified Gulfstream III carrier aircraft owned by Calspan Corporation. Generation Orbit 

continues work on the X-60A program via SBIR Phase III funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). 

The X-60A is slated to be flight tested at Cecil Field Spaceport in Jacksonville, FL, in the near future.

C. Propulsion System and Second Stage Structural Loads Interaction Test Platform – Relativity Space and 

NASA’s Stennis Space Center

This partnership aimed to mature the use of additive manufacturing in rocket propulsion and vehicle structures. 

The effort culminated in testing Relativity’s 3D-printed engine, Aeon 1, with a Terran 1 second stage structural test 

article printed in the company’s proprietary large-scale metal 3D printer, Stargate. The first integrated tests of a new 

configuration and delivery of a structural test article—a 7-ft diameter, 11-ft tall aluminum tank shell printed in one 

piece—took place in December 2018. Additional testing of the ignitor and engine was completed in July 2019, 

demonstrating a substantial increase in performance.

D. 3D-Printed Bimetallic Combustion Chamber Material – Virgin Orbit and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight

Center and Goddard Space Flight Center

This collaborative effort helped to evolve 3D-printed bimetallic combustion chamber material technology. Testing 

of an advanced manufacturing technology chamber was completed in late 2018 and early 2019. A total of 29 tests 

were completed on two advanced manufacturing chambers and one reduced-length chamber. The work is helping to 

establish technology supply chains for use by NASA and industry, with advancements that can significantly reduce 

lead times and costs of liquid rocket engine hardware and ultimately lower launch costs. 

E. Spyder Technology Guidance Navigation and Control Affordable Vehicle Avionics Development – UP 

Aerospace and Ames Research Center

 Research was performed leading to potential integration of Affordable Vehicle Avionics (AVA), developed at 

NASA’s Ames Research Center, into UP Aerospace’s developmental Spyder orbital launch vehicle, including launch 

vehicle simulations and evaluations of AVA Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) software, and AVA 

hardware. The AVA technology was successfully flight tested on an UP Aerospace SpaceLoft sounding rocket and 

transitioned to a commercial license.

Four representative successful Tipping Point cost-contribution projects are summarized below:

A. Maturing the M10A 25,000lbf-Thurst Liquid Oxygen/Methane Broadsword Engine – Masten Space Systems

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Masten is developing a liquid oxygen/methane reusable lander engine with 25,000 lbf-thrust liquid oxygen/methane 

Moon or Mars reusable lander engine. In 2018, the research team conducted a hot-fire test and developed an improved 

additively manufactured aluminum metal matrix composite material for a rocket engine and thrust chamber. The work 

stands to advance the state of the art of aluminum thrust chambers, cooling channel design, and additive 

manufacturing. In particular, the activity may benefit landing and sample return missions to the Moon and Mars. 

Masten successfully completed this project in late 2019 by demonstrating a hot firing of their 25,000 lbf-thrust engine 

in the test stand at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

B. Carbon Nanotube Infused Launch Vehicle Structures – Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital Sciences 

Corporation)

Northrop Grumman is developing a toolkit focused on eliminating the need for payload isolation systems—

typically a necessity to insulate one experiment from disturbances that may be caused by others on the same flight. 

The development leverages carbon nanotube infused structures to achieve dampening in aerospace structures with a 

lower cost per pound of payload sent to orbit. In 2018, the Shock Characterization Box—which reduces mass and 

improves damping— underwent dynamic test methods demonstration, completed a technical readiness review, and 

commenced Phase 2 development efforts. Three interstages were built for the Black Brant XII and achieved

considerable mass savings compared to the heritage aluminum interstage. The lattice bulkhead constructed using these 

methods yielded a 40% weight savings and 6 decibel attenuation compared to the heritage bulkhead.

C. Spyder: Critical Technology Demonstration Tests – UP Aerospace

UP Aerospace collaborated with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to advance high-performance propulsion 

for its Spyder orbital launch vehicle and hypersonic mission capabilities. In 2018, the research team completed detailed 

motor designs, enabling transition to motor demonstrations. The company also developed hypersonic flight test bed 

configurations for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Wallops Flight Facility to facilitate testing of AFTS. In 

November 2019, UP Aerospace’s SL-14 launch successfully demonstrated AFTS as well as the dual-use capabilities 

for Spyder motors and other key advanced manufacturing and cost-reduction technologies for casting rocket 

components.

D. Development and Flight-Testing of a High-Performance Electric-Pump Fed Launch Vehicle – Astra Space

 The objective of this task was to further progress in developing and flight testing a low-cost launch vehicle 

capable of on-demand launch of small payloads including small satellites to low Earth orbit. A preliminary flight 

test of Astra’s Rocket 3.1 was performed at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska on September 10, 2020.

IX.Conclusion

What began as an adventure into unchartered territory ten years ago has evolved into a robust program that is having 

significant impact for NASA’s missions as well as missions being pursued by the commercial space industry. 

Technologies tested with support of the program are slated for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Flight 

Opportunities will continue to seek opportunities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of testing to ensure its 

continued impact and looks forward to working with the community to another decade of pursuing creative 

collaborations to advance space technologies. 

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