14 DAY TRIAL // According to NASA chief technologist Robert Braun, the American space agency just received approval for funding destined for eight research projects that senior officials at the organization are simply eager to being completing.
Some of these projects include collaborations with the US Department of Defense's (DOD) US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Some of the ideas that will be researched include horizontal launch capabilities, which NASA has been interested in for decades, as well as in-orbit satellite maintenance and servicing systems.
Additionally, experts will also look into the creation and development of power-beam technologies.
The new funds come from Congress, which agreed to allot $36.5 million to researching these joint projects, Space reports.
“The thing to realize about the Space Technology Program is that it's not an entirely new program,” Braun says of the new researches planned to take place at the agency.
“It includes the Innovative Partnership Programs that were in existence this year and in previous years, Small Business Innovative Research, Small Business Technology Transfer, Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research [and] Centennial Challenges,” he adds.
He reveals that funding for these investigations will not be limited to 2010 alone. “All these carry forward in 2011 at a budget approaching $240 million,” Braun explains.
Analysts believe that the United States will save billions of dollars if NASA and DARPA figure out a way to service and maintain the tens of satellites the DOD has in geosynchronous orbit around Earth.
Most of these spacecrafts are beginning to reach the end of their planned lifespans, and they would all need to be replaced if they cannot be repaired or upgraded.
Considering the costs of a single rocket launch, it stands to reason that a small and inexpensive robotic mission to repair the spacecrafts would be preferred.
“DARPA believes the three studies in which it is engaging with NASA are the first of many to come," said on August 18 DARPA spokesman Eric Mazzacone.
Funding for new program is still under discussion, with the House and the Senate proposing entirely different sums. The entire faith of all new proposals hangs in the balance here.