Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2023)
Recipient: HIGHER GROUND LLC
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2018-03-08 to 2024-03-31
Current total value of award: $3296917
Description: IN ANTICIPATION OF THE INCREASED USE OF SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (SUAVS) IN LOW ALTITUDE AIRSPACE (E.G., CLASS E AND G AIRSPACE) AND THE PRESIDENT S INCREASED EMPHASIS ON IMPROVED BORDER SECURITY, NASA S UNMANNED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT (UTM) PROJECT IS EMBARKING ON AN EFFORT TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLES THAT A SUAS CAN HAVE ON IMPROVING BORDER PATROL AND OVERAGE IN LOW ALTITUDE AIRSPACE VIA LOW-COST, SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY. THIS PROJECT DIRECTLY EXTENDS OUR PHASE 1 WORK IN NASA SBIR CONTRACT #NNX16CA49P. UNDER THIS PHASE 3 SBIR ACTIVITY, A NEW CONCEPT CALLED AN UNMANNED RELAY VEHICLE [URV] IS BEING PROPOSED. THE URV IS A LONG-ENDURANCE, SUAV THAT RELAYS NEAR-REALTIME INFORMATION TO THE INTERNET VIA GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES. ONE MIGHT THINK OF THIS RELAY LIKE A WI-FI ACCESS POINT BUT WITH THE ACCESS POINT AT 400 FEET IN ALTITUDE. THUS, PROVIDING A LOT MORE COVERAGE. SEE FIGURE 1. THIS URV, NOW CALLED SKYPATROL , ENABLES AN EXTENSIVE, PRIVATE, COMMUNICATIONS ZONE ALONG THE ENTIRE BORDER IN WHICH:   IMAGES CAN BE CAPTURED AND REPORTED IN NEAR-REAL-TIME DIRECTLY TO THE INTERNET   URVS CAN BE RE-DIRECTED IN FLIGHT   GROUND SENSORS (E.G. CAMERAS, TRIP SENSORS...) CAN BE RELAYED FROM ANYWHERE   BORDER AGENTS CAN TEXT AND SEND VOICEMAIL   OPERATIONS COSTS ARE QUITE NOMINAL THIS PHASE III PROPOSAL WILL RESULT IN INCREASED COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY FIRST DEVELOPED IN THE PHASE I SBIR. THE PROJECT WILL SHOW THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE NEW UAV AVIONICS AND WILL DEMONSTRATE ITS UTILITY FIRST IN A GOVERNMENT SECURITY APPLICATION. THEREAFTER, THIS SAME TECHNOLOGY CAN ENABLE MEANINGFUL COMMERCIAL ADVANCES IN IOT [INTERNET OF THINGS]