NASA Ask Me Anything Panel 

SmallSat Conference 2022 

Panel Members: 

Access to Space: 

• Speaker 1: Alan Zide, Program Executive, Heliophysics Division & Shaun Daly, Mission Manager,

NASA Launch Services Program

• Speaker 2: John Kelly, Program Manager, Flight Opportunities Program

• Speaker 3: Norman Phelps & Liam Cheney, Launch Services Program, CubeSat Launch Initiative

Conjunction Assessment and Mitigation 

• Speaker 4: Lauri Newman, Conjunction Assessment Manager

Moderator: 

Alex Austin, NASA JPL 

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Ask Me Anything – Access to Space – Alan Zide & Shaun Daly 

SMD Rideshare Office & Launch Services Program 

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Challenges

• LSP Commercial VADR launch contract for SmallSats for Dedicated

Launch & Rideshare

• SMD Rideshare opportunities

• Utilize excess performance on NASA Primary launches – RS Policy

• NASA Science-unique orbits – VADR

• Promote expansion of commercial launch options for SmallSats

with higher risk tolerance

• Partnering with government and commercial providers for increased

opportunities

Current Oppostunities 

& S3VI Resources 

NASA Launch Portal 

https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ 

launchportal 

Upcoming SmallSat 

Mission solicitations 

https://www.nasa.gov/smallsatinstitute/nasa-smallsatopportunities 

NASA SMD Rideshare Guide 

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/ 

default/files/atoms/files/smd_ 

spa_rug_with_dnh_generic_ 

2021dec15.pdf 

• Compatibility and DNH for reducing risks to all payloads

Questions? Email: 

hq-smd-rideshare@mail.nasa.gov • Mission flexibility for increasing launch opportunities and reducing costs

NASA 

SmallSat 

Launch 

Options 

Lessons

Learned
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask Me Anything Panel #1 – John Kelly

Lead NASA Organization: Flight Opportunities 

Description of NASA Organization

Flight Opportunities rapidly demonstrates promising

technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the

expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing

with industry flight providers. 

Impact / Importance 

• More than 250 successful flights have been completed

since 2011, enabling more than 870 tests of space

technologies.

• Many mission infusions! Examples:

• LVS (Mars 2020 lander)

• Rad PC (ISS and CLPS lunar mission)

• CubeSat Reaction Wheels (2023 JSC CubeSat

mission)

Target Audience / Stakeholder

Technologists who can benefit from flight testing their 

innovations on commercial suborbital vehicles 

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Current Opportunities/Status

• TechFlights: Annual solicitation awards up to $750K to

purchase flights from a commercial provider for

testing/demonstrating technologies that address NASA

mission needs

• TechLeap Prize: Annual challenges address specific

topics and award up to $650K to develop payloads, plus

access to flight testing on a commercial suborbital vehicle

• TechRise Student Challenge: Winning teams of 6-12th

grade students receive $1,500 to build a payload, plus

access to a suborbital flight test

Future Plans 

• Commercial vehicle capability enhancements

• Collaboration between Flight Opportunities and Small

Spacecraft Technology programs to rapidly increase

access to low-Earth orbit and beyond

For more information contact 

Nasa.gov/flightopportunities 

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov 

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CSLI / ELaNa – Norman Phelps & Liam Cheney 

CubeSat Launch Initiative / Educational Launch of Nanosatellites

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Provide access to space for CubeSats developed at educational institutions, non-profit organizations, NASA Centers and programs, 

giving CubeSat developers a low-cost pathway to conduct research in the areas of science, technology development, and education. 

Challenges

• Removes financial barriers associated with launch

• Enables students, teachers and faculty to obtain hands-on flight hardware

development and operational experience

• Provides mechanism to conduct scientific research and develop

technologies in the space environment

• Promotes and develops innovative public-private partnerships

• Provides a mechanism for low-cost technology development and scientific

research addressing NASA Goals, Objectives and Strategic Knowledge Gaps

• Enables the acceleration of flight-qualified technology assisting NASA

in raising the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs)

• Strengthens NASA and the Nation’s future STEM workforce

Announcement of Partnership 

Opportunity releases in 

August 2022 

- responses due by 11/18 -

norman.l.phelps@nasa.gov 

liam.j.cheney@nasa.gov 

• Erosion of CubeSat “ready for turnover” dates due to resource problems, hardware/software anomalies, & COVID-19

• Affordable launch opportunities for CubeSats needing to go to “atypical” orbits and/or containing provocative features

• Lack of consistency and transparency in the RF licensing process

• Evolving FCC and NASA rules regarding propulsion, orbital lifetime, collision risk, etc.

Benefits to 

Organizations 

Benefits to 

NASA 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask Me Anything Panel #1 – Lauri Newman 

Lead NASA Organization: Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA) 

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

The NASA CARA Program performs risk analysis of 

close approaches for NASA missions and recommends 

a course of action to the operator. 

Impact / Importance: Space is increasingly congested, 

and many space operators are new/inexperienced 

due to the increasing availability of inexpensive 

SmallSat technology. Collisions on orbit can prevent 

use of orbit altitudes for everyone. Using best 

practices for close approach prediction and mitigation 

is important to protect all spacecraft and keep space 

sustainable. 

Target Audience / Stakeholder: CARA services are 

required for all NASA missions not part of the Human 

Spaceflight Program, which are supported separately. 

Challenges & Lessons Learned: Collision of a SmallSat 

with a large object like a rocket body can make a large 

debris cloud. Not all operators follow best practices, 

such as sharing ephemerides with the 18th Space

Defense Squadron for screening, increasing the risk of

collision and thus debris production. 

Future Plans: The USG is working to establish a Space

Traffic Coordination Capability via the Department of

Commerce to expand services to stakeholders beyond

the current 18th Space Defense Squadron offering.

CARA is actively involved in assisting DOC. 

For more information: 

NASA CA Website: https://www.nasa.gov/conjunction-risk-analysis-and- mitigation 

Handbook of Best Practices: 

https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCE_docs/OCE_51.pdf 

CARA software repository: https://www.nasa.gov/conjunction-assessment 

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