II. Technology Strategy

Technology Program Pillars

  • An aggressive, long-range core technology program to enable the next generation of high-performance and cost-effective Space Science missions

  • A solid, mainstream set of focused technology programs to enable near-term emerging missions

  • A flight validation program, complemented by advanced development to bring laboratory pre-prototypes to flight readiness

  • A far-reaching mission studies and advanced concepts program to explore the full range of near- and long-term mission options and how to achieve them

A central element of the overall Space Science Integrated Technology Strategy is to develop new capabilities and innovative technology that will enable us to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The missions proposed by OSS must be accomplished within fixed budgets that are dramatically lower than those of past generations of missions. In many cases, they require fundamentally new observational and measurement techniques.

The new prominence of technology development is a key part of the fundamental changes in the Space Science Enterprise. OSS has adopted a flexible strategy in which missions are flown when technology development allows us to best meet the objectives for a fixed low cost. In this approach, mission and technology planning proceed together from the outset, with both sides working to achieve a balance of cost, performance, and schedule (Figure 2).

 

OSS Technology Goals
  1. Lower mission life-cycle costs and provide critical new capabilities through aggressive technology development.
  2. Develop innovative technologies to address far-term scientific goals, spawn new measurement concepts and mission opportunities, and create new ways of doing space science.
  3. Develop and nurture an effective science-technology partnership to help optimize mission concepts and infuse new technologies into science missions, with the goal of dramatically lowering mission cost and risk.
  4. Stimulate cooperation among industry, academia, and Government to ensure that the Nation can reap the maximum scientific and economic benefit from its space science mission and technology programs.
  5. Identify and fund the long-range strategic technologies that have broad potential to span the needs of more than one NASA Enterprise.
Figure 2. Advanced Electric Propulsion Enabling Low-Cost Space Exploration