NASA Awards Contracts in Support of Entry, Descent, Landing Technology

NASA has awarded a total of seven contracts to six companies including Airborne Systems North America of Santa, Ana California, CFD Research Corporation of Huntsville, Alabama, Jackson Bond Enterprises LLC of Dover, New Hampshire, Ryzing Technologies of Staunton, Virginia, Miller Scientific Inc. of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Anasphere Inc. of Manhattan, Montana. Jackson Bond Enterprises, LLC is receiving two of the seven awards.

The overall scope of this work is the development of Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD) technologies for spacecraft aerocapture and entry, descent, and landing (EDL) for atmospheric entry applications in hypersonic, supersonic, transonic, and subsonic regimes. Potential NASA and commercial mission applications will benefit from this advanced technology.

Task orders issued against these contracts may include design, manufacturing, and testing for materials, components, subassemblies, concept demonstration articles, engineering development units, and flight articles.

The IAD statement of work and associated contract awards are divided into three Technical Tracks, as follows, with a total 10-year period of performance:

  • Technical Track A: Inflatable Structures Design, Fabrication (including Aeroshell Integration), and Testing
    • This contract has a maximum contract value of $140 million.
  • Technical Track B: Flexible Thermal Protection Systems Design, Fabrication (including Aeroshell Integration), and Testing
    • This contract has a maximum contract value of $92 million.
  • Technical Track C: Gas Generator Inflation System Design, Manufacturing, and Testing
    • This contract has a maximum contract value of $37 million.

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