The University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) was awarded a $436,547.01 Cooperative Agreement (Contract #80NSSC20M0084) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the development of Variable Specific Impulse Electrospray Thrusters for Small Satellite Propulsion. This contract, which has a completion date of June 30, 2023, was not set aside for any specific business type. UC Irvine, a major public research university, will leverage its specialized facilities and...
This is a research and development contract awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to investigate the lifetime and robustness of electrospray thrusters, which are a type of low-cost propulsion system suitable for small satellite missions. The $281,153.02 contract aims to develop an electrospray thruster capable of at least 1,500 seconds of specific impulse and over 500 hours of operational lifetime. This will...
This is a $118,711.30 grant awarded by NASA's Shared Services Center to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) to conduct research on a novel reduced-order modeling framework for aerospace applications. The goal is to extend traditional potential-flow methods by incorporating physics-reinforced and data-driven models to optimize acceleration constraints. This award is not set aside for any specific business type. UC Irvine, a public research university and member of the Association...
This is a grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for High Specific Impulse (ISP) Electrospray Propulsion research. The $120,379.11 grant is funding research into an enabling technology for future NASA missions. UCLA is conducting this research through its Office of Research Administration division. The grant is for research and development purposes and does not have a set-aside...
This federal contract award, valued at $275,000.00, was granted to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) by the Shared Services Center, a civilian agency. The contract requires UC Irvine to execute a balanced science program based on guidance from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the agency's priorities, and direction from Congress. Key focus areas include scientific research on and from the Moon, lunar orbit, Mars, and beyond, as well as advancing...
This federal contract award to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) is a grant for $131,989.46 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to conduct research on atmospheric aerosols and their impact on ocean phytoplankton growth, marine productivity, and carbon sequestration. As a leading public research university, UC Irvine has extensive expertise in disciplines like engineering, physical sciences, and climate science, which enables it to support NASA's mission...
This federal contract award, valued at $135,000.00, was granted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) to conduct research focused on the search for life beyond the solar system, with a specific emphasis on planets within the habitable zone. UC Irvine, a public research university and member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, has extensive expertise across various disciplines, including the physical...
This federal contract award is a $730,816.87 grant to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center. The grant funds research to study the 3D structure and dynamics of high-speed jets in the magnetosheath region and their role in dayside magnetospheric processes. The research aims to improve understanding of how these transient events interact with the magnetopause and drive turbulence, reconnection,...
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded a $246,131.14 training grant contract to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Office of Research Administration to develop ion thrusters for CubeSat spacecraft. CubeSats are a promising platform for future NASA exploration and science missions, but currently lack the high propulsion required. This non-set-aside contract, awarded on August 1, 2017, will provide advanced propulsion capabilities to enable high-delta-V...
This federal contract award, with an ID of 80NSSC19K1671, was granted to the University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) by a civilian federal agency, the Shared Services Center, to develop multi-functional and reconfigurable materials based on nano-textured micropyramids for thermal management of high-temperature aerospace and space systems. The $158,160.27 grant project has a completion date of December 31, 2023. UC Irvine, a public research university and member of the prestigious Association...
This federal contract award, valued at $361,446.00, was granted by the Shared Services Center (an alternate name for the NASA Shared Services Center) to the University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) to conduct research on improving the design and understanding of electrospray thrusters. The project aims to model the nanometric regime of cone-jets in order to guide the design and optimization of electrospray thrusters, which are an enabling technology for small satellites.
The research involves developing a novel modeling approach that incorporates key physical phenomena, such as ion evaporation and non-homogeneous temperature fields, to better predict thruster performance parameters like beam current, ion/droplet current fractions, and pressure jump. The results will be validated through experimental measurements. This work is expected to help increase the specific impulse of electrospray thrusters, which is currently a limiting factor for their use in small satellite missions requiring high delta-V. The contract does not have a set-aside designation, as UC Irvine is competing based on its research capabilities as an academic institution.