PARAGON SPACE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase III: IGF: : OT: : IGF RECOVERY OF POTABLE WATER FROM WASTEWATER IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF
PARAGON SPACE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — SBIR Phase III award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Phase III transition / production-path signal
- Phase III work is typically non-SBIR set-aside follow-on. Seeing PARAGON SPACE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION at Phase III is a strong transition indicator in this domain.
- Competitors studying dual-use scale-up should treat Phase III firms as graduation benchmarks, not just Phase I/II volume leaders.
- At $13,888,745, this is a large obligation for typical SBIR Phase sizing — worth reviewing for scope breadth and teaming opportunity.
- Tagged technology areas: Space & Satellite, Materials & Manufacturing, Human Performance & Medical. Follow those hubs for open topics and peer winners in the same cluster.
Summary
NASA awarded Paragon Space Development Corporation about $13.9 million to develop a brine processor that recovers water from wastewater like urine for long space missions. The system will be tested on the ISS to prove it works in microgravity for future Mars exploration.
- Amount
- $13,888,745
- Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase III
- NAICS
- 541712 · RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT BIOTECHNOLOGY)
- Place of performance
- AZ
- Period
- 2016-06-27 → 2022-01-31
Technology domains
Space & Satellite Materials & Manufacturing Human Performance & Medical
Description
IGF::OT::IGF RECOVERY OF POTABLE WATER FROM WASTEWATER IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF LONG-DURATION HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT. FOR HUMAN MISSIONS TO MARS, THE TECHNOLOGY MATURATION (TA 207) OBJECTIVE IS TO RECOVER GREATER THAN 98 PERCENT OF THE WATER FROM WASTEWATER SOURCES (URINE, HUMIDITY CONDENSATE, ETC.). THIS CONTRACT IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF IONOMER-MEMBRANE WATER PROCESSOR (IWP) BRINE PROCESSOR FOR FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS). REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BRINE PROCESSOR WILL BE BASELINED BY NASA AND AGREED TO BY THE CONTRACTOR UNDER THE PHASE III SBIR NNX16CJ02C. AN ISS FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION IS NEEDED TO VALIDATE AND FULLY CHARACTERIZE BRINE PROCESSOR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE IN A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT FOR FUTURE EXPLORATION MISSIONS. THE RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT IN THIS CASE INCLUDES BOTH MICRO-GRAVITY AND LONG-DURATION EXPOSURE TO MICRO-G CREW-PRODUCED BRINE VIA THE URINE PROCESSOR. THE BRINE PROCESSOR WILL BE FLOWN AS A CLASS 1E PIECE OF HARDWARE. TASKS INCLUDE 1) COMPLETE TECHNOLOGY MATURATION OF KEY COMPONENT SUBSYSTEMS OF THE IWP FROM THE PHASE III SBIR INCLUDING BLADDER HEAT SEALING, LOW-PROFILE SIDE-MOUNTED FILL PORT, DETRUSOR AND SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY WITH INADVERTENT EXPOSURE TO 14.7 PSIG DURING BRINE FILL; 2) SYSTEM DESIGN CYCLE INCLUDING HEATER AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT TRADE; 3) INTEGRATED SYSTEM AND COMPONENT PRELIMINARY DESIGN; 4) INTEGRATED SYSTEM AND COMPONENT FINAL DESIGN AND REVIEW; 5) MANUFACTURING OF ONE COMPLETE IWP ASSEMBLY, 42 BLADDERS (18 FOR QUALIFICATION TESTING AND 24 FOR FLIGHT), ONE NON-OPERATING TRAINING UNIT WITH SPARES; 6) PROTOFLIGHT QUALIFICATION TESTING AND BLADDER ACCEPTANCE TESTING; 7) HARDWARE ACCEPTANCE REVIEW AND DELIVERY OF A BRINE PROCESSOR AND ASSOCIATED CONSUMABLES, FOR AN ISS TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION; 8) POST-DELIVERY AND ON-ORBIT SUPPORT WHICH INCLUDES GENERATION OF OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE HANDBOOK FOR USE BY NASA IN SUPPORT OF CREW TRAINING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ON-ORBIT OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, CREW TRAINING SUPPORT, AND ON-ORBIT OPERATIONS SUPPORT AND SUPPORT WITH NASA ON-ORBIT ANOMALY RESOLUTION AND GENERATION OF AN ON-ORBIT TEST REPORT WITH LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS.