Award Data

Physical Sciences Inc. and Purdue University propose to develop a novel approach to scavenging heat from high intensity thermal environments encountered during space missions and converting this thermal power to electrical power at high efficiency. Examples include extremely hot heat shields during vehicle entry into planetary atmospheres (Mars/Venus probes) and during high speed ascent through p ...

SSCI and University of Washington (Prof. Behcet Acikmese) propose to develop, integrate and test an innovative Distributed Intelligent Swarm Control & Utilization System (DISCUS). The DISCUS will be based on advanced distributed state estimation techniques, probabilistic guidance and control under collision avoidance and other relevant mission constraints, real-time contingency management includin ...

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration Purdue University, proposes to develop a novel launch propulsion technology for rapid insertion of nano/micro satellites (~ 5-100 kg scale) into low earth orbit, with the potential to lower the current state-of-the-art launch stage cost by 2X. The technology employs a propulsion scheme comprising a storable liquid oxidizer and a unique solid fuel with ...

Busek, with its Small Business Technology Transfer partner Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), proposes to undertake the development of a AF-M315E green monopropellant thruster for a potential flight application. Busek will be designing, fabricating, and qualifying the thruster to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 status. SNL will be performing additional qualification tests for Busek and perfor ...

We propose a new test device to replace light gas guns to study impact physics. Approved for Public Release | 17-MDA-9219 (31 May 17)

Karagozian & Case, Inc. (K&C) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) will develop a re-usable, cost-effective, and accurate dynamic characterization methodology capable of measuring the dynamic material properties of various materials of interest under very high strain rates. Materials property data for various ductile materials (e.g., steel and aluminum) are required as input to f ...

Missile defense takes place in an uncertain and dynamic environment, so multi-sensor fusion must be employed to aggregate and merge disparate data from the battlefield. However, the fusion process is hindered by the vast amount of uncertainty in operational contexts, such as imprecise measurements and varying environmental conditions. Various algorithms and fusion processes have been developed to ...

Boston Fusion, together with our teammate Syracuse University, propose a program of research and development, namely Uncertainty Characterization Using Copulas, which will lead to a parametric framework based on the statistical theory of copulas for modeling uncertainties in a centralized fusion architecture for the problem of target classification for ballistic missile defense applications. This ...

The proposed effort will develop a new approach to characterize and analyze multiple-sensor decision making under uncertainty. The major focus will be on the decision architecture involving multiple Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) elements and the evaluation of the performance of various decision architectures for ballistic missile object discrimination. The proposed method will provide a well-d ...

Given a specific window of opportunity for an incoming threat, the central Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) operator must dynamically manage the battle to achieve global and regional mission objectives. Seconds matter in these situations, and the C2BMC operator must be well versed in all potential scenarios, so that his actions are both quick and decisive. Currently, ...