The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $99,995 - Thursday the 24th of May 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9300 AFTC PZR
  STTR 1, ULTRA-HIGH DENSITY ION PROPULSION FROM IONIC LIQUIDS

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• $98,944 - Thursday the 5th of December 2013
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  BUSEK PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN INTEGRATED PROPULSION, POWER, ACS, (PROPACS) SYSTEM FOR MICRO-SPACECRAFT DEPLOYED FROM THE ESPA RING SECONDARY PAYLOAD PORTS. THE STANDARDIZED PROPACS SYSTEM INTEGRATES THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS NEEDED FOR HIGHLY CAPABLE MICRO-SPACECRAFT BUS INCLUDING; 1) 600 W HALL EFFECT THRUSTER SYSTEM FOR PRIMARY PROPULSION, 2) XE COLD GAS THRUSTERS FOR PROPULSIVE ACS, 3) ARTICULATED SOLAR ARRAY, BATTERIES AND POWER MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION (PMAD) SYSTEM WITH STEADY STATE POWER OF 700W AVAILABLE TO THE PAYLOAD WHEN PROPULSION IS OFF AND 4) AN INTEGRAL STRUCTURE THAT SUPPORTS THE PAYLOAD AND A LIGHTBAND SEPARATION MECHANISM FOR THE ESPA RING. THE PROPACS CAN PROVIDE OVER 1,800 M/SEC DELTAV TO A 181 KG SPACECRAFT WITH A 80KG PAYLOAD. IN PHASE 1 PROPACS SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE DESIGN WAS COMPLETED AND ALL MAJOR COMPONENTS WERE IDENTIFIED. MASS, POWER, DATA BUDGETS WERE DEVELOPED AND MAJOR INTERFACES WERE SPECIFIED. PHASE 2 FOCUS WILL BE ON THE PROPACS ELEMENTS WITH LOWER TRL TO ACHIEVE SYSTEM WIDE TRL6 AT THE END OF THE PROGRAM. THE THRUSTER WILL BE ADVANCED TO NEAR FLIGHT LEVEL, TWO PMAD SYSTEMS WILL BE EVALUATED AND ONE SELECTED AND THE PROPACS INTEGRAL STRUCTURE SUPPORTING THE PAYLOAD AND SEPARATION RING WILL BE DESIGNED AND BUILT.

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• $75,000 - Tuesday the 1st of September 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN THE PHASE I EFFORT, BUSEK DEVELOPED A MINIATURE PRECISION PIEZO-ACTUATED MICROVALVE WEIGHING 32G AND OCCUPYING 4.5 CM^3. THE VALVE DEMONSTRATED CONTINUOUS FLOW REGULATION OF 0-12 SCCM NITROGEN (15PSI SUPPLY PRESSURE) THRU 0-500 SCCM NITROGEN (1000PSI SUPPLY PRESSURE), WITH A LEAK RATE OF BETTER THAN 1.0 X 10^-5 MBAR-L/S. THE SIMPLE, LOW PART-COUNT DESIGN WAS DEVELOPED WITH A CRITICAL EYE TOWARD LOW-REJECTION RATE MANUFACTURABILITY, WITH SEVERAL SENSITIVE ASSEMBLY OPERATIONS SUCCESSFULLY ADVANCED TOWARD, ROBUST, RELIABLE PROCESSES. RESILIENCE UNDER AGGRESSIVE SHOCK LOADING, WHICH EXHIBITED NEGLIGIBLE EFFECTS UPON VALVE OPERATION, WAS DEMONSTRATED. FOR THE PHASE II EFFORT, BUSEK SHALL CONTINUE REFINING CRITICAL ASSEMBLY PROCESSES TO IMPROVE RELIABILITY IN ASSEMBLY, ELIMINATING REMAINING ELASTOMERS IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE AN ALL-METAL ARCHITECTURE. ADDITIONALLY, A SUPPLEMENTARY FEATURE FOR DOWNSTREAM VOLUME COMPENSATION (FOR REGULATION OF INCOMPRESSIBLE LIQUIDS AFFECTED BY INDUCED FLOWS DUE TO MECHANISM ACTUATION AND/OR LIQUID THERMAL EXPANSION; A NECESSARY FEATURE FOR COLLOID THRUSTER OPERATION) SHALL BE DEVELOPED. SUPPORTING THE COLLOID APPLICATION SHALL BE VALVE DRIVER ELECTRONICS ABLE TO FLOAT AT THRUSTER BEAM VOLTAGE. THE DESIGN SHALL BE VALIDATED VIA VIBRATION AND THERMOVAC TESTING, AND CULMINATE IN OPERATION OF BOTH A GAS-BASED THRUSTER, AS WELL AS A COLLOID THRUSTER TO VALIDATE THE VOLUME COMPENSATION FEATURE.

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• $749,996 - Monday the 10th of August 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTION - DURING PHASE I, BUSEK DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED AN ELECTROSPRAY EMITTER CAPABLE OF GENERATING 20 MN IN A 7" X 7" X 1.7" PACKAGE. THE THRUSTER CONSISTS OF NINE POROUS-SURFACE EMITTERS OPERATING IN PARALLEL FROM A COMMON PROPELLANT SUPPLY. EACH EMITTER IS CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING OVER 70,000 ELECTROSPRAY EMISSION SITES, WITH THE PLUME FROM EACH EMITTER BEING ACCELERATED THROUGH A SINGLE APERTURE, ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR INDIVIDUAL EMISSION SITE ALIGNMENT TO AN EXTRACTION GRID. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF EMISSION SITES DURING OPERATION IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH 700,000. PHASE II RESULTS WILL FOCUS ON OPTIMIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE THRUSTER FABRICATED DURING THE PHASE I EFFORT, AS WELL AS FABRICATION OF ADDITIONAL POROUS EMITTERS FOR FULL-SCALE TESTING. PROPELLANT WILL BE SUPPLIED TO THE THRUSTER VIA EXISTING FEEDSYSTEM AND MICRO-VALVE TECHNOLOGY PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED BY BUSEK, UNDER THE NASA ST7-DRS MISSION, AND FOLLOW-ON ELECTRIC PROPULSION PROGRAMS. METHODS FOR EXTENDING THRUSTER LIFE BEYOND THE PREVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATED 450 HOURS, WILL BE INVESTIGATED AND INCLUDE POTENTIAL ALTERNATE EMITTER MATERIALS SELECTION, AND BI-POLAR THRUSTER OPERATION. THE LIFE EXTENDING CAPABILITIES WILL BE DEMONSTRATED ON A SUB-SCALE VERSION OF THE THRUSTER DEVELOPED.

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• $746,101 - Thursday the 12th of November 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTION - THE INNOVATION BEING DEVELOPED IN THIS PROGRAM IS A MG HALL EFFECT THRUSTER SYSTEM THAT WOULD OPEN THE DOOR FOR IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION BASED SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION. MAGNESIUM IS LIGHT AND EASY TO IONIZE. PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES OF A MG THRUSTER INCLUDE FAR HIGHER SPECIFIC IMPULSE AND LESS LIFE LIMITING EROSION. ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES INCLUDE LOW PROPELLANT COST AND LOW PRESSURE PROPELLANT STORAGE. A SYSTEM EFFICIENCY>50% IS EXPECTED FROM AN OPTIMIZED, HIGH POWER MG HET. MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE ISP FOR A HIGH EFFICIENCY MAGNESIUM HALL THRUSTER DRIVEN BY A 400V POWER PROCESSING UNIT MAY EXCEED 5000S. FOR A MARS-EARTH TRANSFER, THE PROPELLANT MASS SAVINGS WITH RESPECT TO A XENON HET SYSTEM ARE ENORMOUS. MG CAN ALSO BE COMBUSTED IN A ROCKET WITH CO2 OR H2O, ENABLING A MULTI-MODE PROPULSION SYSTEM WITH PROPELLANT SHARING AND ISRU. IN THE NEAR TERM, CO2 AND H2O WOULD BE COLLECTED IN-SITU ON MARS OR THE MOON. IN THE FAR TERM, MG ITSELF WOULD BE COLLECTED FROM MARTIAN AND LUNAR REGOLITH. IN PHASE I, AN INTEGRATED, MEDIUM POWER (1-3KW) MG HET SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED AND TESTED. CONTROLLED, STEADY OPERATION AT CONSTANT VOLTAGE AND POWER WAS DEMONSTRATED. PRELIMINARY MEASUREMENTS INDICATE ISP>4000 S WAS ACHIEVED AT A DISCHARGE POTENTIAL OF 400V. THE FEASIBILITY OF DELIVERING FLUIDIZED MG POWDER TO MEDIUM OR HIGH POWER THRUSTER WAS ALSO DEMONSTRATED. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE II WILL BE TO EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF AN INTEGRATED, HIGH POWER MG HALL THRUSTER SYSTEM IN A RELEVANT SPACE ENVIRONMENT. IN THE FIRST TASK, WE WILL IMPROVE THE MEDIUM POWER THRUSTER SYSTEM AND CHARACTERIZE IT IN DETAIL. IN THE SECOND TASK, THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED WILL BE USED TO DESIGN AND BUILD A HIGH POWER (8-20KW) MG HET. IN THE THIRD TASK, A FLUIDIZED POWDER FEED SYSTEM SUPPORTING THE HIGH POWER THRUSTER WILL BE BUILT AND DELIVERED TO BUSEK. IN THE FOURTH TASK, THE INTEGRATED HIGH POWER SYSTEM WILL BE FULLY CHARACTERIZED. MEASUREMENTS WILL INCLUDE PERFORMANCE AND PLUME PROPERTIES.

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• $50,000 - Friday the 12th of September 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN NASA IS SEEKING AN ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 20MN THRUST WITH INPUT POWER UP TO 1000W AND SPECIFIC IMPULSE RANGING FROM 1600-3500 SECONDS. THE KEY TECHNICAL CHALLENGE OF THE TOPIC IS THE TARGET MASS OF 1KG FOR THE THRUSTER AND 2KG FOR THE POWER PROCESSOR (PPU). IN PHASE 1 BUSEK DEVELOP AN OVERALL SUBSYSTEM DESIGN FOR THE THRUSTER/CATHODE, PPU AND XFS. THE FEASIBILITY OF A LOW MASS POWER PROCESSING ARCHITECTURE THAT REPLACES FOUR OF THE DC-DC CONVERTERS OF A TYPICAL PPU WITH A SINGLE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL CONVERTER AND A LOW MASS HALL THRUSTER DESIGN EMPLOYING PERMANENT MAGNETS WAS DEMONSTRATED. IN PHASE 2 EFFORT WILL DEVELOP AN ENGINEERING PROTOTYPE MODEL OF THE LOW MASS BHT-600 HALL THRUSTER SYSTEM WITH THE PRIMARY FOCUS ON THE LOW MASS PPU AND THRUSTER. THE BROAD TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES ARE: 1) DESIGN, FABRICATE AND DEMONSTRATE AN ENGINEERING MODEL VERSION OF THE LOW MASS, HALL THRUSTER PPU DEVELOPED IN PHASE 1. THE TARGET MASS IS 2KG. 2) DESIGN, FABRICATE AND DEMONSTRATE A LOW MASS VERSION OF THE BHT-600 THRUSTER THE TARGET MASS AND EFFICIENCY IS 1 KG AND>45%, RESPECTIVELY. 3) CONDUCT AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM TEST AND DELIVER THE PROTOTYPE PPP AND THRUSTER SYSTEM TO NASA.

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• $50,000 - Friday the 20th of March 2015
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9300 AFTC PZR
  IGF::OT::IGF SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATIVE RESEARCH (SBIR) PHASE III - SPACE PLASMA CHARACTERIZATION SOURCE (SPCS)

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• $50,000 - Monday the 7th of July 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  BUSEK LEVERAGED PREVIOUS, INTERNALLY SPONSORED, HIGH POWER, HALL THRUSTER DISCHARGE CONVERTER DEVELOPMENT WHICH ALLOWED IT TO DESIGN, BUILD, AND TEST NEW PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD CONVERTER WITHIN THIS PHASE 1 EFFORT. THE NEW CONVERTER CONSISTS OF TWO SERIES OR PARALLEL BOARDS (SLICES) INTENDED TO POWER NASA GRC HIVHAC THRUSTER OR OTHER SIMILARLY SIZED EP DEVICES. THE CONVERTER ACCEPTS 80 TO 160V INPUT AND GENERATES 200 TO 700V ISOLATED OUTPUT WHILE DELIVERING CONTINUALLY ADJUSTABLE 300W TO 3.5KW POWER. BUSEK BUILT AND DEMONSTRATED ONE BOARD WHICH ACHIEVED<94% EFFICIENCY THE FIRST TIME IT WAS TURNED ON, WITH PROJECTED EFFICIENCY EXCEEDING 97% FOLLOWING TIMING SOFTWARE OPTIMIZATION. THE BOARD HAS A PROJECTED SPECIFIC MASS OF 1.2KG/KW ACHIEVED THRU HIGH FREQUENCY SWITCHING. IN PHASE 2 WE WILL PERFORM THE REQUIRED OPTIMIZATION TO EXCEED 97% EFFICIENCY AND BUILD A SECOND PROTOTYPE IN A FORM FACTOR MORE APPROPRIATE FOR FLIGHT. THIS CONVERTER WILL THEN BE INTEGRATED WITH A SET OF UPGRADED EXISTING BOARDS FOR POWERING MAGNETS AND THE CATHODE WHICH CONSTITUTE THE BALANCE OF THE PPU AND USE THE TRADITIONAL INPUT VOLTAGE OF 28V. THE PROGRAM WILL CULMINATE WITH INTEGRATING THE ENTIRE PPU AND TESTING IT ON BUSEK THRUSTER AT BUSEK AND ON HIVHAC THRUSTER AT NASA GRC.

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• $40,446 - Wednesday the 27th of June 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9453 DET 8 AFRL PKV8
  COMPACT LOW PROPULSION FOR RESPONSIVE SPACE

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• $374,999 - Tuesday the 26th of February 2013
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9300 AFTC PZR
  ADD REMAINING FUNDING SBIR PHII

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