Purchase Order S73631G

This federal contract award is for the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) development, a joint project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The $749,903.03 grant was awarded to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on February 14, 2020 for research and development related to this space science mission, which is intended to launch in early 2022. The contract...

This federal grant award to the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) aims to scale up their existing 50mm cross-strip (XS) photon counting ultraviolet (UV) detector technology to a larger 100x100mm format. The grant, valued at $973,962.28, is funded by NASA and is part of their "Development of Large Area (100x100 mm) Photon Counting UV Detectors" program. The goal is to raise the technology readiness level (TRL) of the XS detector from 4 to 6, which includes testing the...

This federal contract award is for an analysis of solar flare X-ray time profiles and the development of a hard X-ray (>10 keV) solar-dedicated CubeSat called the Experiment for X-Ray Characterization and Timing (EXACT). The contract, valued at $135,000.00, was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the Regents of the University of Minnesota, a non-profit organization and 1862 land grant college, on September 1, 2018. The contract has a...

This federal contract award to Stanford University, a leading private research institution, is focused on developing a prototype readout ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for future high-performance X-ray imaging detectors. The award aims to address the technological challenges for the notional High Definition X-ray Imaging (HDXI) instrument of the Lynx Large Mission Concept, which requires a significant increase in frame rate compared to the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The work will...

BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems Inc. was awarded a $118.3 million definitive contract by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on October 1, 2015, to support Phase A of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission through January 31, 2027. IXPE is a space telescope designed to observe and study X-ray emissions from cosmic objects through polarimetry analysis, contributing to NASA's astrophysics research objectives. The contract, which carries no set-aside designation, is...

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) was awarded a $6.4M cooperative agreement by a civilian federal agency on April 1, 2022, for the CubeSat Imaging X-Ray Solar Spectrometer (CubIXSS) mission, with completion targeted for May 31, 2026. CubIXSS is a scientific research initiative designed to address fundamental questions about solar corona heating mechanisms during solar flares and quiescent active regions by measuring elemental abundances and spectral signatures across soft X-ray wavelengths...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded a $108,292 grant to the University of Iowa to develop a concept for the X-Ray Quantum Calorimeter Satellite (XQCSAT), a small satellite capable of performing high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy of diffuse gas in the interstellar medium and galactic halo. The XQCSAT mission aims to study stellar feedback and the distribution and dynamics of hot gas in the Milky Way's halo. The team from the University of Iowa and the University of...

This is a $100,000 grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to continue development of novel hybrid Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) X-ray detectors for future large-area and high-resolution X-ray astronomy missions. The grant is a continuation of Penn State's previous work in this area, with the proposed 4-year effort focused on designing and fabricating a large-format device incorporating the new...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was awarded a $2.85 million research grant by a civilian federal agency's Shared Services Center on January 1, 2023, to develop extremely low-noise, high frame-rate X-ray image sensors for strategic astrophysics missions. The grant, which is not subject to any set-aside designation, is scheduled for completion by December 31, 2026, and will be performed at MIT's Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. This research effort aligns with MIT's extensive portfolio...

The University of New Hampshire received an $968,807 research grant from a civilian federal agency to develop advanced Transition Edge Sensor (TES) arrays for next-generation hard X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy applications. Building on prior breakthroughs in TES microcalorimeter technology with microwave multiplexed Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) readout, the three-year development program aims to create focal plane instrumentation for a hard X-ray telescope capable of...