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Howe Industries Llc

Scottsdale, AZ

$2,177,234

Total funding

5

Grants

Funding over time

peak $1.2M · FY2019–22

$2M$1.5M$1M$500K$0

'19

'20

'21

'22

Funding mix

By agency

NSF$1,442,899 · 2

NASA$734,335 · 3

By mechanism

—$2,177,234 · 5

Investigators at Howe Industries Llc

Investigator-initiated All funding

Investigatorsi

Rising Stars

First grant in the last 5 yrs

Not enough data

Emerging Leaders

6–10 yrs in

Not enough data

All-Time

Most funded here, all years

Not enough data

Largest grants

SBIR Phase II: A Solar Thermal CubeSat Propulsion System$1,192,933

· FY2022 · TIP

NUCLEAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION (NEP) SYSTEMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE A VERY EFFECTIVE TRANSIT MECHANISM TO CELESTIAL BODIES OUTSIDE OF THE REALM OF SOLAR POWER YET THE HEAVY POWER SOURCE AND MASSIVE RADIATORS REQUIRED TO JUSTIFY A REACTOR CORE OFTEN PUSH NEP SPACECRAFT TOWARDS VERY LARGE MASSES AND MAJOR MISSIONS. IF THE TOTAL MASS OF AN NEP SYSTEM COULD BE REDUCED TO LEVELS THAT WERE ABLE TO BE LAUNCHED ON SMALLER VEHICLES THESE DEVICES COULD DELIVER SCIENTIFIC PAYLOADS TO ANYWHERE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THE MAJOR TASKS IN THIS PHASE WILL INCLUDE: DEMONSTRATING PERFORMANCE OF THE IMPROVED ATEG UNITS. IMPROVING THE COMPUTATIONAL MODEL FOR THE ATEG PERFORMANCE PREDICTION SO THAT NEW COMBINATIONS OF MATERIALS CAN BE USED IN THE FUTURE. OPTIMIZING THE SPEAR REACTOR TO MINIMIZE MASS AND COST. IDENTIFYING DETAILED TRAJECTORY AND MISSION INFO FOR ORBITAL INSERTION AND CUBESAT ORBITS TO GATHER DATA FROM EUROPA PLUMES. CREATING A LOW MASS NEP SYSTEM WILL OPEN MANY NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH IN THE FUTURE. USING SMALLER ROCKETS WILL PROVIDE FLAGSHIP CLASS RESULTS WITH MUCH SMALLER MISSIONS. ADDITIONALLY THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATEG UNITS AND SMALL REACTORS CAN PROVIDE POWER TO OTHER ROVERS SURFACE BASES SATELLITES OR A NUMBER OF OTHER MISSIONS. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPEAR PROBE WILL SHOW THAT INEXPENSIVE EFFECTIVE NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE ACHIEVED FOR FUTURE SPACE EXPLORATION.$495,066

· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SBIR Phase I: ThermaSat - A Solar Thermal CubeSat Propulsion System$249,966

· FY2019 · TIP

ONE ISSUE THAT ARISES WITH SPACECRAFT IN ALMOST EVERY MISSION IS THERMAL MANAGEMENT. COMPUTERS INSTRUMENTS AND HOUSING MAY HEAT UP IN SPACE AS A COMBINATION OF SOLAR ENERGY AND POOR HEAT REJECTION CAUSES TEMPERATURES TO RISE TO HUNDREDS OF DEGREES. THIS CAN BE FOUGHT BY ADVANCED RADIATORS OR MAY REQUIRE SPECIALIZED COOLING SYSTEMS. NATURALLY THESE ATTEMPTS TO KEEP TEMPERATURES AT OPERATING LEVELS RESULT IN EXCESS MASS AND CAN PREVENT SOME MORE COMPLEX MISSIONS FROM EVEN TAKING PLACE. PELTIER COOLERS ARE SOLID STATE COOLING DEVICES WHICH UTILIZE THE SEEBECK EFFECT TO CREATE A TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL USING ELECTRICAL POWER. THE PROPOSED IDEA IS AN ADVANCED PELTIER COOLER WHICH IS GREATLY ENHANCED BY EMBEDDING A SMALL AMOUNT OF ALPHA EMITTING RADIOISOTOPE IN THE FEET OF THE DEVICE TO IONIZE ATOMS AND INCREASE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY. THIS ALLOWS FOR A DRASTIC INCREASE IN THE CAPABILITIES OF EXISTING THERMAL MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES. THE MISSION PROPOSED IS TO CREATE A ROVER WHICH USES THE POLAR COOLER AND A TUNGSTEN SHIELD TO ALLOW FOR EXPLORATION OF MERCURY DURING THE DAY IN FULL SUNLIGHT. THE AUGMENTED SHIELD CALLED THE HIGH IRRADIANCE PELTIER OPERATED TUNGSTEN EXO-REFLECTOR (HIPOWER) SHIELD WILL PROTECT THE ROVER THROUGH A COMBINATION OF REFLECTIVITY AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT. INITIAL MODELING IN COMSOL PREDICTS THAT FOR AN IRRADIANCE OF 10 000 W/M2 THE TEMPERATURE OF THE ROVER CAN BE MAINTAINED AT ~300K USING THE POLAR COOLERS. THIS CONCEPT WILL BE EVALUATED THROUGH THE FOLLOWING THREE OBJECTIVES: 1) COMPUTATIONALLY MODEL THE POLAR UNIT USING COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS FINITE ELEMENT MODELING PROGRAM A DATABASE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED TO PREDICT PERFORMANCE FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. ASPECTS SUCH AS TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE COLD AND HOT SIDE OPERATING TEMPERATURES POWER AND VOLUME REQUIREMENTS AND AUGMENTATION LEVELS WILL BE ANALYZED TO IDENTIFY WHICH DESIGNS ARE MOST SUITABLE FOR EACH APPLICATION. 2) TESTING IN A RADIATION FIELD A FUNCTIONING PELTIER COOLER WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND INSERTED INTO THE TEST REACTOR AT KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY. BORON WILL BE USED AS A REPLACEMENT FOR THE ALPHA SOURCE AS IT GENERATES ALPHAS WHEN EXPOSED TO THERMAL NEUTRONS. THIS WILL EMPIRICALLY DEMONSTRATE THE CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE WHILE LIMITING COSTS AND EXPOSURE TO RADIOISOTOPES. 3) ROVER DESIGN HOWE INDUSTRIES WILL DESIGN A ROVER CAPABLE OF MONITORING THE SURFACE OF MERCURY GATHER SCIENTIFIC DATA USING ON BOARD INSTRUMENTS AND REMAIN WITHIN OPERATING TEMPERATURES. THE EQUIPMENT LIST FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION WILL BE POPULATED AS WELL AS THERMAL POWER AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS. THIS MISSION WILL NOT ONLY GATHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANET CLOSEST TO THE SUN BUT WILL UNEQUIVOCALLY DEMONSTRATE THAT THERMAL MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY HAS PROGRESSED TO THE POINT WHERE EVEN THE MOST EXTREME THERMAL ENVIRONMENTS CAN BE EXPLORED. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS COOLING SYSTEM IS APPLICABLE TO A NUMBER OF MISSIONS AS WELL AS FOR KEEPING COMPUTER COMPONENTS COOL IN SPACE KEEPING PROPELLANT CRYOGENIC FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME OR PRODUCING LIQUID NITROGEN FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS. THE POLAR COOLER WILL SOLVE THE ISSUE OF THERMAL MANAGEMENT IN SPACE BY PROVIDING COOLING IN A SMALL ROBUST SOLID STATE PACKAGE.$124,590

· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DEVELOPMENT OF A SPACE FARING CIVILIZATION WILL DEPEND ON THE ABILITY TO MOVE CARGO EFFICIENTLY AND HUMANS RAPIDLY. DUE TO THE LARGE DISTANCES INVOLVED IN SPACE TRAVEL THE SHIPS MUST REACH A HIGH VELOCITY FOR REASONABLE MISSION TRANSIT TIMES. THUS PROPULSION SYSTEMS WITH HIGH SPECIFIC IMPULSE (ISP) AND HIGH THRUST ARE REQUIRED. POSSESSING BOTH ATTRIBUTES HAS ELUDED THE CURRENT STATE OF TECHNOLOGY. HOWE INDUSTRIES IS INVESTIGATING A SYSTEM THAT MAY PRODUCE 20 000 LBSF OF THRUST WITH AN ISP OF 5 000 S. THE SYSTEM IS DERIVED FROM THE PULSED FISSION FUSION [1] CONCEPT BUT THE PULSED PLASMA ROCKET (PPR) IS SMALLER LESS COMPLEX AND MORE AFFORDABLE. THE PERFORMANCE OF A PROPULSION SYSTEM WITH HIGH ISP AND HIGH THRUST ALLOWS MISSIONS THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND WHICH ARE NOT POSSIBLE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY. HUMAN MISSIONS TO MARS IN TWO MONTHS ARE POSSIBLE. ALTERNATIVELY HEAVIER SHIPS CONTAINING SHIELDING AGAINST GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS ARE ENABLED SO THAT THE DOSE TO THE CREW IS REDUCED TO NEGLIGIBLE LEVELS. THIS MAY BE PREFERABLE FOR MARS MISSIONS OR MAY ENABLE HUMAN MISSIONS TO THE ASTEROID BELT IN ACCEPTABLE TIMEFRAMES. ADDITIONALLY A MISSION TO THE 550 AU LOCATION WHERE THE SUN S GRAVITATIONAL LENS FOCUSES CAN BE CONSIDERED. FOR THIS STUDY WE INTEND TO FOCUS ON THE LARGE HEAVILY SHIELDED SHIP TO TRANSPORT HUMANS AND CARGO TO MARS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MARTIAN BASE.$114,679

· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration