This week, NASA announced its $51 million investment into 312 small businesses across the country as part of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Geocent is proud to be in that number.
For the SBIR, Vistacent — a joint venture with Vista Engineering— will help develop and build a cutting-edge printing facility for the International Space Station (ISS). The new facility will be able to print composites and metals, unlike the current printing facility aboard the ISS, which can only print plastics. The facility will be a boost to both NASA and commercial capabilities; small businesses will be able to build unique equipment they weren't able to make before, while NASA will have the versatility to create, use, and deploy these materials from orbit.
The STTR project revolves around a simple concept: making a burdensome process easier and cheaper. Geocent will help build a comprehensive, end-to-end wireless architecture to help NASA gather instrumentation data during rocket testing.
"Our work with NASA is so important," said Dr. Bobby Savoie, CEO of Geocent. "We're proud to continue helping them make a difference."
These awards are just the first round of funding for the SBIR and STTR programs. Per NASA's press release, Phase I SBIR contracts last for six months, and Phase I STTR contracts last for 13 months.
