Contractor directory

CU AEROSPACE L.L.C.

CHAMPAIGN, IL · UEI X95KNGLAEMH7 · CAGE 1JFE6

Largest contract awards

• 80NSSC23CA214$2.6M

  FIBER-FED PULSED PLASMA THRUSTER (FPPT) FOR ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Sep 2023 – Sep 2026 · official record ↗

• 80ARC020C0001$2.2M

  TIPPING POINT - TOPIC 3. EFFICIENT AND AFFORDABLE PROPULSION SYSTEMS. DUAL PROPULSION EXPERIMENT CUBE SATELLITE

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Feb 2020 – Jan 2028 · official record ↗

• IND17PC00307$1.5M

  IGF::OT::IGF PERSISTENT PLATFORM IN GEOSYNCHRONOUS EARTH ORBIT

  Departmental Offices · NAICS 541712 · Jul 2017 – Dec 2020 · official record ↗

• HQ086022C7122$1.5M

  SBIR/STTR PHASE II R&D: LOW COST HIGH EFFICIENCY CRYOCOOLER COLD HEAD

  Missile Defense Agency · NAICS 541715 · Mar 2022 – Mar 2024 · official record ↗

• 80NSSC18C0063$1.1M

  CU AEROSPACE (CUA) PROPOSES THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF A FIBER-FED PULSED PLASMA THRUSTER (FPPT) THAT WILL ENABLE CIS-LUNAR AND DEEP SPACE MISSIONS FOR SMALL SATELLITES. WHILE CLASSIC PPT TECHNOLOGY IS MATURE, IT HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN LIMITED BY ITS PROPELLANT LOAD TO PRECISION POINTING AND SMALL DELTA-V APPLICATIONS. A RECENT THRUSTER ADVANCEMENT BY CUA, MONOFILAMENT VAPORIZATION PROPULSION (MVP), ADAPTED EXTRUSION 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY TO FEED POLYMER PROPELLANT FIBER TO A RESISTOJET THRUST CHAMBER. FPPT LEVERAGES THIS ADVANCEMENT BY FEEDING PTFE FIBER TO ITS DISCHARGE REGION, ENABLING CLASS-LEADING PPT PROPELLANT THROUGHPUT AND VARIABLE EXPOSED FUEL AREA. AN INNOVATIVE, HIGHLY PARALLEL CERAMIC CAPACITOR BANK DRAMATICALLY LOWERS SYSTEM SPECIFIC MASS. FPPT IS INHERENTLY SAFE; ITS NON-PRESSURIZED, NON-TOXIC, INERT PROPELLANT AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MINIMIZE RANGE SAFETY CONCERNS. THE PHASE I EFFORT ACCUMULATED MORE THAN 582,000 PULSES, WITH THRUST-STAND MEASURED IBITS FROM 0.057 0.241 MN-S AT 960 2400 S SPECIFIC IMPULSE, REPRESENTING A DRAMATIC ENHANCEMENT FROM STATE-OF-ART PPT TECHNOLOGY. A PHASE II 1U FPPT THRUSTER WILL PROVIDE 2200 4900 N-S TOTAL IMPULSE, ENABLING 0.4 1.0 KM/S DELTA-V FOR A 5 KG CUBESAT. A 1U DESIGN VARIATION WITH 590 G PROPELLANT ENABLES AS MUCH AS ~10,000 N-S AND 2 KM/S FOR A 5 KG CUBESAT. ADVANCING THE TECHNOLOGY TO A 2U FORM FACTOR INCREASES PROPELLANT MASS TO 1.4 KG AND DELTA-V TO 10.7 KM/S FOR AN 8 KG CUBESAT. CUA ANTICIPATES DELIVERING TO NASA A LIFE-TESTED FLIGHT-LIKE>2,000 N-S 1U INTEGRATED SYSTEM BY THE END OF PHASE II INCLUDING THE ADVANCED THRUSTER HEAD WITH IGNITER SYSTEM, PTFE FIBER FEED SYSTEM, POWER PROCESSING UNIT, AND CONTROL ELECTRONICS.

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Apr 2018 – Oct 2022 · official record ↗

• N6600122C4011$1000K

  EO14042 - RESEARCH IAW SOW ENTITLED TRANSFORMING THE BATTLESPACE: SPACE SYSTEMS

  Defense Contract Management Agency · NAICS 541715 · Nov 2021 – Aug 2023 · official record ↗

• 80NSSC23CA089$900K

  SBIR PHASE II THREE-STAGE CRYOCOOLER COLD HEAD FOR ADVANCED HETERODYNE SENSORS

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Jun 2023 – Feb 2026 · official record ↗

• 80NSSC23CA090$900K

  SBIR PHASE II QUICK TURN PULSED PLASMA THRUSTER (QT-PPT) FOR DEORBITING APPLICATIONS

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · May 2023 – Sep 2026 · official record ↗

• 80NSSC21C0605$755K

  ADVANCED FLOW CONTROL SYSTEM FOR IN-SPACE ELECTRIC PROPULSION

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Aug 2021 – Nov 2023 · official record ↗

• 80NSSC20C0221$755K

  LOW FLAME TEMPERATURE MONOPROPELLANT PROPULSION UNIT FOR CUBESATS (MPUC)

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Jul 2020 – Jul 2023 · official record ↗

• 80NSSC20C0020$755K

  SCALABLE AND DISTRIBUTED INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541715 · Dec 2019 – Sep 2022 · official record ↗

• NNX17CG08C$755K

  IGF::OT::IGF THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT PROPOSED IS A NOVEL LARGE-SCALE NONINEAR PARALLEL OPTIMIZATION TOOL (NLPAROPT). THIS SOFTWARE PACKAGE WILL ELIMINATE THE COMPUTATIONAL BOTTLENECK SUFFERED BY MANY STANDARD NASA-UTILIZED ANALYSIS TOOLS SUCH AS GMAT, EMTG AND NASTRAN. CURRENTLY THESE PROGRAMS RELY ON SERIAL NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING SOLVERS SUCH AS THE SPARSE NONLINEAR OPTIMIZER (SNOPT), DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEIR OWN CODEBASES SUPPORT FULL PARALLELIZATION. THE SAME IS TRUE FOR TOOLS USED IN OTHER INDUSTRIES FOR APPLICATIONS SUCH AS ELECTRIC POWER GRID OPTIMIZATION, NUCLEAR REACTOR CONTROL AND STOCK MARKET ANALYSIS. THE NLPAROPT ALGORITHM CAN BE QUICKLY INCORPORATED INTO THESE EXISTING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS VIA A USER-FRIENDLY INTERFACE AND WILL OFFER AN INSTANT RUNTIME REDUCTION FOR VERY LARGE-SCALE OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS. IRRESPECTIVE OF RUNTIME GAINS, PHASE I ANALYSIS HAS SHOWN THAT THE NLPAROPT ALGORITHM IS CAPABLE OF OUTPERFORMING INDUSTRY STANDARD SERIAL SOLVERS SUCH AS SNOPT FOR TESTED PROBLEMS, INCLUDING COMPLEX TRAJECTORY DESIGN PROBLEMS. THE PHASE I EFFORT HAS ALSO IDENTIFIED SEVERAL POTENTIAL COMPUTATIONAL RESEARCH AVENUES THAT, ONCE COMPLETED IN PHASE II, WILL RESULT IN MASSIVE EXECUTION SPEED INCREASES, FURTHER IMPROVING THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THIS NEW PARALLEL ALGORITHM.

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NAICS 541712 · Apr 2017 – Jan 2020 · official record ↗

Public records from FPDS (via USAspending.gov) and SAM.gov. Figures reflect harvested award data and may not be complete; verify against the linked official records. Not an endorsement. Company in the data by mistake or wish to update it? Email support@usegovscout.com.