NASA licenses smallsat technology to Thermal Management Technologies

A conversation at last year's Small Satellite Conference in Utah led to the Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, signing a non-exclusive license agreement with Thermal Management Technologies (TMT) of North Logan, Utah.

"We chatted a bit about a couple of NASA technologies that complemented some small satellite structures TMT is developing, and I became interested in learning more about one technology in particular," said Scott Schick, director of engineering at TMT. "Our company really values the Small Satellite Conference, because you get to share what you know while learning about what others are doing."

The patented technology - Diminutive Assembly for Nanosatellite deploYables (DANY) - provides a reliable mechanism to secure deployable elements of a small satellite, safely stowing them until receiving a signal to burn through a plastic restraining link and release them for use in space.

Deployable elements on a small satellite can include solar arrays, sun shades, radiators or antennas. The entire assembly is about the size of a credit card, making it ideal for small satellites that have significant space constraints.

The agreement allows TMT to use the technology, developed at Goddard for the Dellingr mission, as the core of TMT's "Gecko Release Mechanism," named after the device's gecko-like size and ability to grip tightly onto a spacecraft.

"SPO and DANY's inventors - Luis Santos, Scott Hesh and John Hudeck - are excited to see the technology made available to the commercial space community through this license agreement with TMT," said Eric McGill, a technology manager in Goddard's SPO. "We're impressed with the research and development progress made by the company to date."

"Eric McGill was great to work with from day one," Schick added. "As a small business, this was our first experience licensing a NASA technology, but we're super happy with the result."

TMT specializes in custom thermal and mechanical products, including spacecraft hardware and systems. Schick said that DANY, a thermal-based technology, fits well into the company's niche.

"This really matches our overall objective to provide small spacecraft with high-reliability thermal control components," Schick said.

Small satellites typically have a mass of less than 180 kilograms, and they play a growing role at NASA for science missions and technology demonstrations.

To learn more about Thermal Management Technologies, please visit here

Related Links
Goddard's Strategic Partnerships Office,
Microsat News and Nanosat News at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Flood detection a surprising capability of microsatellites mission
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 30, 2018
Hurricanes bring heavy rainfall and strong winds to coastal communities, a potent combination that can lead to devastating damage. In 2016 NASA launched a set of eight satellites called the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, mission to gather more data on the winds in these tropical cyclones as part of an effort to increase data coverage of hurricanes and aid forecasts. As the first year of data is being evaluated, a new and unexpected capability has emerged: the ability to see throu ... read more