Space Technology Patents for Sale or License

ABSTRACT- An object of the present proposal provide an improvement in search-coil type sensors. It is a further object of the present proposal to provide lightweight metallic glass antenna (pickup coil- PC) for detecting AC magnetic fields both generated by natural- and man-made sources including o...

In a method for transmitting satellite data of a global navigation satellite system each satellite transmit position data of neighboring satellites to a navigation device on the earth. The subset of neighboring satellites with respect to a specific satellite is determined by averaging over a period ...

A method for vector phase tracking a plurality of global positioning satellite carrier signals is disclosed, in which for a tracked satellite a discriminator (25) is generating phase tracking error signals at different frequencies associated with the various carrier signals of the tracked satellite ...

A method for estimating satellite-satellite single difference biases is described. The method uses an ionosphere-free mixed code-carrier combination of maximum ambiguities discrimination defined at the ration between wavelength and noise standard deviation. The accuracy of the biases estimation is f...

The arrangement has earth surfaces (31, 32) working as ground potentials for electrical and electronic circuits and as antenna units, where the circuits are connected with one another on or below the earth surfaces through conductors (L1, LM, LM+1, LN). Signal currents and antenna control currents a...

A method and apparatus for controlling the attitude of a vehicle (such as an aircraft) in a space having at least two opposed viewable regions, each region being viewed by a respective first sensor for sensing a first frequency band of electromagnetic radiation and a respective second sensor for sen...

Solid rocket motors always incorporate one or more hollow bore holes in the propellant, and often include complex geometries of fins and cutouts to enhance the burn rate of the propellant. The present technology presents an inert material that fills the bore or any other void space thereby renderin...

This JHU/APL invention applies genetic algorithms to the problem of optimally determining solar panel location and size on an airship (or other solar paneled vehicle) to minimize power, weight, and volume for significant performance advantages over more “intuitive” design methods typically employed....

The novel aspect of the JHU/APL UV Infra Red camera and altimeter is that the detection system is an integrated photon-counting, 2-D imaging, Time-of-Flight system. This technology is superior to conventional imaging lidars (LIght Detection And Ranging) that are not photon-counting as well as conven...

There is an increasing need for miniature magnetometers for mapping magnetic fields in space and in industrial and environmental applications. The trend has been constantly toward smaller size, lower power consumption, and lower cost models having similar or better performance. Recent developments i...

There is an increasing need for miniature magnetometers for mapping magnetic fields in space and in industrial and environmental applications. The trend has been constantly toward smaller size, lower power consumption, and lower cost models having similar or better performance. Recent developments i...

There is an increasing need for miniature magnetometers for mapping magnetic fields in space and in industrial and environmental applications. The trend has been constantly toward smaller size, lower power consumption, and lower cost models having similar or better performance. Recent developments i...

Abstract: The new technology Cartesian Electronic Absolute Autocollimator, the only instrument of its kind, has unsurpassed sensitivity and stability for its size with an exceptional field of view or range of regard. To date in the laboratory, the autocollimator has been used to measure the apex an...

Abstract: The general purpose of this invention is to significantly increase the speed reduction of Gear Bearing Planetary Transmissions and, thereby, to improve pointing precision for science instruments and torque output for deployment mechanisms. Very high speed reduction planetary transmissions...

Abstract: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and National Institute of Justice (NIJ) have teamed up to explore the use of NASA developed technologies for use in in-situ elemental analysis of materials at forensic sites or for use on planetary lander missions. A portable field X-Ray Fluorescence (XR...

Abstract: The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has a modular design and was meant to be serviceable in-orbit by astronauts using the Space Shuttle Following the Columbia disaster and the grounding of the Shuttle fleet, HSTs planned servicing mission was cancelled with no future plans to upgrade the obs...

Abstract: MPL is an eye safe lidar system for detecting cloud-base height and profiling atmospheric cloud and aerosol scattering up to altitudes of 30 kilometers. Developed at the Goddard Space Flight Center in answer to the challenge of creating an efficient lidar system for space-borne applicatio...

Abstract: This technology is a magnetic docking system designed to mate two vehicles in space. A spacecraft using the system would move to a position close to its intended mating port and remain there while a magnetic capture ring is extended....

Abstract: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a high-speed parallel integrated frame synchronizer chip that can be used in ground station systems that receive and process data from airborne or in-space sources. This chip has a processing speed of 500 Mbps - five times faster than process...

Abstract: The pressure vessel joint is an airtight, flexible joint that allows for flexibility at the interface of two pressure vessels while limiting axial loading carried across the joint. This flex joint consists of a floating structural segment that is attached permanently to one of the pressur...

Abstract: The Space Station Paraffin-Actuated Remote Connector (SSPARC) is a device for joining two structural members, either electrically (using remote controls) or manually. The releasable coupling device is composed of a collet fastener, which has retractable latching fingers mounted on one of ...

Abstract: The NASA Langley Research Center has developed a miniature semi-autonomous flight system with avionics sensor board, processing board and flight control board. This system is being developed to enable autonomous flight for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)....

Abstract: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seeks partners to commercialize a new pump for use in single- and two-phase thermal control systems aboard spacecraft....

Abstract: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) seeks qualified users and/or manufacturers to pursue further development and commercialization of a capacitive sensor and the numerous technologies it enables...

Abstract: The design of aerodynamic components of aircraft, such as wings or engines, involves a process of obtaining the most optimal component shape that can deliver the desired level of component performance, subject to various constraints, for example, total weight or cost, that the component m...

Abstract: The NASA Langley Research Center has developed a miniature semi-autonomous flight system with avionics sensor board, processing board and flight control board. This system is being developed to enable autonomous flight for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The system is a small, integrated...

Abstract: The IRWA was developed for NASA's Small Explorer Lite program - an initiative to provide small, low-cost, high-performance/reliability spacecraft. Designed primarily for small (100 to 1,000 kg) spacecraft launched from a Pegasus-class vehicle, the IRWA provides unique plug-and-play capabi...

Abstract: NASA scientists have discovered a method for providing Fourier Imaging with as few as one or two grid pairs, while capturing the entire available spectrum. Result: An imager that costs less to produce and offers high quality imaging....

Abstract: NASA Glenn's Oil-Free turbomachinery research team is helping to develop three key technologies: foil air bearings, high-temperature solid lubricants, and computer-based modeling. Recent breakthroughs in these key technologies now enable the demonstration of revolutionary Oil-Free gas tur...

Abstract: The IRWA was developed for NASA's Small Explorer Lite program - an initiative to provide small, low-cost, high-performance/reliability spacecraft. Designed primarily for small (100 to 1,000 kg) spacecraft launched from a Pegasus-class vehicle, the IRWA provides unique plug-and-play capabi...

The Parametric Cost Model can be used to work out unit, sub-system, system and total project costs for a variety of projects. The model has been used by BA Systems, ESTEC, Airospatial plus many other major companys. The full source code and intellectual propert rights are for sale....

Introduction Shape memory alloy (SMA) materials superelasticity and shape memory facilitate their use in stowable building units for space structures. With tight space allocation restrictions on vehicles, compactable structures present a viable alternative to standard structures whose size cannot be...

Many machines with rotating parts use brakes and clutches to stop or control the degree and direction of motion of the driven parts. Brakes and clutches often are incorporated between concentric races (i.e., rotating shafts). One class of locking brake/clutch uses spherical balls or cylindrical roll...

Although it yields a high quality coating, electroless deposition does not allow for much process control, requires high processing temperatures, and has a slower deposition rate than with electroplating. Better process control is available through electroplating, which involves placing a voltage ac...

CONFIG is a general-purpose simulation tool that can support simulations in several domains, including process-oriented industries (chemicals, foods, pharmaceuticals), water and waste processing, manufacturing, power systems, and computer/telecommunication networks. CONFIG is an enhancement of discr...

The goal was to develop simple architectures to implement in parallel/vector processing form to reduce the processing rate required by the hardware and able to be extended to any length filter desired, with only linear increase in complexity. The improvement of these novel architectures is that they...

A small, portable detector with high sensitivity suitable for detection of trace amounts of organic compounds, PTR-IMS does not suffer from problems associated with commonly used gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-based instruments (GC/MS) such as limited sensitivity, fragmentation of large organi...

The data rates for NASA missions are increasing very rapidly. In order to process these high data rates, high-processing hardware is required. For baseband data processing, there exist inexpensive PCI-based solutions; But for RF processing, the current solutions are based on either all analog or mix...

Charge-coupled devices have proven to be exceptionally versatile and effective detectors for imaging wavelengths between the near-ultraviolet and the near-infrared portions of the spectrum. Although detector format/size and sensitivity have increased to meet demand, these larger detectors have techn...

The Morphing Project seeks to integrate smart, biologically inspired, or other unconventional approaches to lead to aggressive improvements in the efficiency, versatility and safety of future air and spacecraft. The foundation of this multi-disciplinary project is research on smart materials and the...

Capillary Pumped Loops (CPL) are a space-age technology for thermal control. GSFC uses CPLs for spacecraft thermal control and recently developed a concept for application of CPLs to human body thermal regulation. The key advantage is that CPLs can operate without an external mechanical pump to redi...

The technology replaces mechanical flowmeters used currently with a simple, dependable electronic device with no moving parts. It is more accurate and not as invasive. Its readings are instantly converted from analog signals to digital records. These records could be broadcast on any bandwidth neede...