Enabling Technologies for Commercialization of Low-Earth Orbit

NASA is committed to continuing the sustained human presence in low-Earth orbit by enabling a commercial market. This area focuses on innovations that could:

Reduce the cost of getting people and cargo to and from low-Earth orbit destinations such as the International Space Station and/or future commercial spacecraft

Provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective space tourism suits for tethered or non-tethered spacewalks.

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Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technologies and Alternative Fuels

This focus area seeks innovation in electric aircraft propulsion and/or alternative fuels that can cut emissions in half for aircraft serving regional markets. Of particular interest to NASA are technologies ready to be tested within the next two years on a proposed 25% scale flight test vehicle in the DoD UAS Group 3 category (weighing less than 1320 pounds and operating at medium altitudes with a medium-to-long-range.) Technologies should be able to potentially transition into the large, uncrewed aerial vehicle market or the emerging air taxi and small electric plane markets.

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Physics-Based Machine Learning for Artificial Intelligence

This focus area seeks innovations that incorporate physics with deep neural networks (algorithms, modeled loosely after the human brain, that pass input through various layers to recognize patterns) to produce models that can quickly and reliably predict complex system behavior for training, optimizing, and testing autonomous systems. NASA seeks physics-based machine learning solutions that reduce or eliminate the need for large data sets, increase extrapolation accuracy, and improve the interpretability of deep neural networks.

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Technologies Using NASA Data to Foster Climate Resilience

This focus area seeks technologies that enable people worldwide to use NASA’s vast and diverse Earth science data sets to peer into different futures. Solutions should leverage the diverse suite of available Earth science data and models to help leaders understand the potential impacts of planning and land-use decisions given a changing climate. Of particular interest are:

Advanced visualization and modeling tools to help users explore and analyze the impacts of hazardous events made more extreme due to our changing climate;

Solutions that are co-produced with and can support underserved populations

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X-Factor Innovations

NASA understands that innovation can come from anywhere. If you have something that could dramatically enhance NASA capabilities or missions or stimulate NASA-relevant commercial markets but your innovation does not fit into the other focus areas for this NASA iTech cycle, this is the category for you.