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NASA Awards 2026 Innovative Technology Concepts - NASA
NASA awarded 18 NIAC Phase I grants totaling $3.2 million for visionary aerospace technology concepts. The program supports early-stage research to improve space exploration and our understanding of the universe.
Why it matters
These awards support early research into technologies that could enable sustained human presence on the Moon and better planetary study. This funding helps determine if theoretical ideas can be developed into practical tools for future missions.
The details
- Each award provides up to $175,000 for a nine-month initial investigation.
- Research areas include lunar lava tube robots and sampling planetary rings.
- Some projects focus on Earth issues like orbital debris and solar radiation.
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Key connections
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory owns DimSun
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing the DimSun project.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory owns CANVAS
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing the CANVAS project.
Zeno Power Systems, Inc. owns EARENDIL
Zeno Power Systems, Inc. is developing the EARENDIL project.
University of Central Florida owns PS21
University of Central Florida is developing the PS21 concept.
University of Hawaii owns SPARK
University of Hawaii is developing the SPARK project.
Stone Aerospace, Inc. owns LUX
Stone Aerospace, Inc. is developing the LUX lunar underground explorer.
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Orbital Velocity, LLC owns OBLIVIAN
Orbital Velocity, LLC is developing the OBLIVIAN black hole observation concept.
University of Utah owns PRTPV
University of Utah is developing the PRTPV power generation system.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University owns ECLIPSE
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is developing the ECLIPSE lunar insulator system.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory owns PRAXIS
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing the PRAXIS planetary rings autonomous exploration system.
Greg Stover leads NASA
Director of the Advanced Research and Technology division at NASA Headquarters.
Phillip Williams leads NASA
Acting Program Executive of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay works at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Researcher at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for DimSun.
David Bugby works at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Researcher at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for CANVAS.
A.C. Charania works at Zeno Power Systems, Inc.
Researcher at Zeno Power Systems, Inc. awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for EARENDIL.
Anish Damodaran works at University of Central Florida
Researcher at University of Central Florida awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for PS21.
Artur Davoyan works at University of California, Los Angeles
Researcher at UCLA awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for solar sails research.
Daniel Drew works at University of Hawaii
Researcher at University of Hawaii awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for SPARK.
Gilly Elor works at Stone Aerospace, Inc.
Researcher at Stone Aerospace, Inc. awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for LUX.
Zhaoyan Liu works at NASA Ames Research Center
Researcher at NASA Ames Research Center awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for Quantum Wind Lidar.
Jeff Nosanov works at Orbital Velocity, LLC
Researcher at Orbital Velocity, LLC awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for OBLIVIAN.
Keunhan Park works at University of Utah
Researcher at University of Utah awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for PRTPV.
Austin Phoenix works at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Researcher at Virginia Tech awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for ECLIPSE.
Marco Quadrelli works at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Researcher at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for PRAXIS.
Michael Rubenstein works at Northwestern University
Researcher at Northwestern University awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for femtosat constellations.
Benjamin Schafer works at Rarefied Technologies Inc.
Researcher at Rarefied Technologies Inc. awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for photophoretic tracers.
David Smith works at Duke University
Researcher at Duke University awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for electromagnetic metamaterials.
Pablo Sobron works at Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute
Researcher at SETI Institute awarded a 2026 NIAC Phase I grant for Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys.
Paul Stankus works at Brookhaven Science Associates
Researcher at Brookhaven Science Associates awarded two 2026 NIAC Phase I grants.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a member of NASA
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a research center of NASA.
Zhaoyan Liu uses Quantum Wind Lidar
Zhaoyan Liu researches quantum wind lidar applications for planetary and Earth science missions.
Benjamin Schafer uses Photophoretic Tracers
Benjamin Schafer researches photophoretic tracers for near-space remote sensing.
Michael Rubenstein uses Femtosat Constellations
Michael Rubenstein researches actively steerable femtosat constellations.
David Smith uses Electromagnetic Metamaterials
David Smith researches robotically assembled electromagnetic metamaterials.
Paul Stankus uses Optical VLBI
Paul Stankus researches optical VLBI for exoplanet imaging.
Artur Davoyan uses Solar Sails
Artur Davoyan researches coilable stacked solar sails.
NASA Ames Research Center is a member of NASA
NASA field center
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