Strategic Astrophysics Technology
Funding Agency:
- NASA
NASA's Astrophysics Division (APD) expects to undertake spaceflight missions that will explore the nature of the Universe at its largest scales, its earliest moments, and its most extreme conditions; missions that will study how galaxies and stars formed and evolved to shape the Universe we see today; and missions that will seek out and characterize planets and planetary systems orbiting other stars. To enable implementation of these strategic missions, APD will continue the Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program to support the maturation of key technologies for potential infusion in spaceflight missions. Strongly endorsed by the 2010 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the SAT program is a key element of the strategy adopted by APD in implementing these recommendations. The upcoming 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Astro2020, hereafter, https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/decadal-survey-on-astronomy-a...) will provide new science, technology, and mission endorsements, and this SAT solicitation is intended to help address these new recommendations. The focus of the SAT program is measured in terms of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the technologies involved. NASA uses a nine-level classification system to rate the readiness of a particular technology for use in a space flight mission. The TRL definitions are articulated in detail in NASA Systems Engineering Processes and Requirement (NPR) 7123.1C Appendix E (updated on February 14, 2020, https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_7123_001C_&... me=AppendixE)
Various
$5,000,000
December 16, 2021
Mario R. Perez Astrophysics Division Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters 300 E Street SW Washington, DC 20546-0001 Telephone: (202) 358-1535 Email: mario.perez@nasa.gov