Description: IC2 proposes to develop a battery-operated, low power, small form factor wireless data-acquisition (DAQ) system which has been appropriately hardened for use in spacecraft. This system will include the ability to remain dormant for at least two years while remaining capable of immediate activation on demand. Once activated, the system will acquire sensor data for at least one month. The proposed system utilizes a distributed wireless sensor network to mitigate the challenges related to sensor installation, including technological, logistical, weight, and cost barriers. Because the proposed system uses wireless communication, it does not require penetrating or damaging the vehicle skin and provides the end-user with the ability to deploy more sensors due to a relaxation of cable routing and weight requirements. Limiting the cable routing requirements reduces installation effort over current systems and provides for substantially more flexible sensor placement options. The primary target application for the system is spacecraft instrumentation, while other applications requiring environmentally hardened low power wireless instrumentation could also be supported by the system's capabilities. Funding will be used to establish target specifications and requirements based on NASA input and design constraints, develop the concept and proposal for a system level deployment, develop the conceptual design for a prototype system, build a functional prototype, and characterize the results.

Benefits: This proposal addresses providing smaller, lighter, more flexible instrumentation systems for NASA through replacing cabling and associated hardware with wireless technologies. The importance of transitioning NASA to wireless instrumentation systems has been highlighted in the NASA SBIR 2024 Phase I Solicitation ("the mass of cable harnesses ... can be a significant percentage of the overall mass of the sensor system ... greater than 50% in some cases"), the 2020 NASA Technology Taxonomy ("reducing overall system mass and permitting easier reconfiguration"), and the NASA 2017 Engineering Directorate Overview ("wireless sensors can save significant vehicle mass"). NASA is searching for battery-powered wireless instrumentation systems which can support extended spaceflight. Such systems should be able to remain in a very low power, dormant state for years on end while also retaining the capability to be instantly awakened for data acquisition. That is exactly what IC2's proposed system seeks to accomplish for NASA.The proposed instrumentation technology has the potential to be implemented across a wide array of sectors. In addition to advancing wireless instrumentation capabilities for spacecraft, the proposed technology is also applicable to the types of technological solutions sought for industrial, agricultural, and nuclear monitoring. The space economy is undergoing a rapid growth stage due to reinvigoration of international interest in space, given increased geopolitical tensions, technological advancements reducing costs and weight, substantial investments from private corporations creating reusable launch vehicles, and expanding space data-as-a-service to meet the demands of the global broadband telecommunications market.