NASA Ames Partners
With m2mi For Small Satellite Development
(24 April 2008) NASA's Ames Research
Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and m2mi Corp., Moffett Field, Calif., announced
Thursday they are taking a revolutionary step forward in improving
telecommunications and networking from space.
Under the terms of
a co-operative research and development agreement, only the third in NASA's
history, NASA Ames and m2mi will work together to develop very small
satellites, called nanosats, for the commercialisation of space.
"NASA
wants to work with companies to develop a new economy in space," said NASA Ames
Center Director S. Pete Worden. "m2mi has great technology that fits
excellently with our goals, while enhancing the commercial use of
NASA-developed technologies."
Nanosatellites are small satellites
weighing between 11 and 110 pounds. A large number of these satellites, called
a constellation, will be placed in low Earth orbit for the new
telecommunications and networking system.
"The constellation will
provide a robust, global, space-based, high-speed network for communication,
data storage and Earth observations," said m2mi Chief Executive Officer Geoff
Brown. "Nanosatellites take advantage of the significant technological advances
in microelectronics and will be produced using low-cost, mass-production
techniques."
Under the agreement, NASA and m2mi will co-operate to
develop a fifth generation telecommunications and networking system for
Internet protocol-based and related services. The co-operative effort will
combine NASA's expertise in nanosensors, wireless networks and nanosatellite
technologies with m2mi's unique capabilities in software technology, sensors,
global system awareness, adaptive control and commercialisation capabilities.
Fifth Generation, or 5G, incorporates Voice Over Internet Protocol, video,
data, wireless, and an integrated machine-to-machine intelligence layer, or
m2mi, for seamless information exchange and use.
"This initiative shows
great promise in revolutionising mobile communications critical in meeting
future needs," said Badri Younes, NASA deputy associate administrator for Space
Communications and Navigation. "This project also will leverage m2mi's
capabilities in software expertise to automate global system awareness and
provide intelligent adaptive control."
(source: NASA Ames Research
Center)
