The NASA innovative advanced concepts (niac) program focuses on early-stage feasibility studies of visionary concepts that address national government and commercial aerospace goals. Concepts are…

NASA awarded a $174,970 grant to Helicity Space Corp (UEI: XMKLZAKKJM77) on January 16, 2025, for participation in the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The award, which carries an ultimate completion date of December 12, 2025, supports early-stage feasibility studies of visionary aerospace concepts designed to address national government and commercial aerospace objectives. The NIAC program solicits innovative concepts from any field of study that propose radically different approaches or disruptive innovations to enhance or enable new human or robotic science and exploration missions.

Under this grant, Helicity Space Corp will conduct research at its Pasadena, California facility on concepts that currently operate at Technology Readiness Levels 1-2 and target applications ten or more years in the future. The NIAC program's focus on credible, unexplored aerospace architectures with potential mission applications to NASA objectives or broader benefits for space and aeronautics activities provides the foundation for this research effort. No set-aside designation was applied to this contract, which is funded through the civilian federal agency.

The NASA innovative advanced concepts (niac) program focuses on early-stage feasibility studies of visionary concepts that address national government and commercial aerospace goals. Concepts are solicited from any field of study that offers a radically different approach or disruptive innovation that may significantly enhance or enable new human or robotic science and exploration missions. The niac program seeks exciting, unexplored, credible aerospace concepts with at least one mission application that addresses NASA goals or offers wider benefits with space or aeronautics applications. Niac focuses on early studies of visionary aerospace concepts. These aerospace architectures, proposed in the context of a representative mission, will generally advance from technology readiness level (TRL) 1-2 in maturity and are aimed ten or more years in the future.