NASA wants enabling technologies in 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI), radar, and robotics in space

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – U.S. space agency researchers are reaching out to industry for enabling technologies in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), radar, and robotics for future space exploration and for their potential for commercial products.

Officials of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Stennis Space Center, Miss., issued a small business innovation research (SBIR) presolicitation on Monday for the NASA 2025 SBIR Ignite phase-one project.

NASA SBIR programs focus on transforming scientific discovery into products and services with the potential for taking part in space and aviation programs and missions, as well as for their potential for commercialization into commercial markets.

2025 SBIR Ignite focuses on technologies with a strong commercial pull, and are chosen for their commercial potential. Offerors must demonstrate how their technologies meet commercial needs, and provide a strong plan for commercialization.

3D printing for space

Advanced manufacturing centers on additive manufacturing -- also called 3D printing -- and has two parts: advanced real-time monitoring and control technologies for additive manufacturing; and computational design of new materials, processes, and products leveraging the microgravity environment of space.

Advanced real-time monitoring and control technologies for additive manufacturing involves quality control of 3D-printed parts. Although additive manufacturing offers the ability to create complex geometries, consistent part quality and few defects is a significant challenge. 3D-printed parts can have defects like porosity, cracking, warping, and incomplete fusion.

Quality control and monitoring at the 3D printing stage could detect defects in real-time; enable corrective actions; increase automation; reduce post-processing; improve process understanding; and enhance materials qualification.

Computational design of new materials, processes, and products leveraging the microgravity environment of space seeks technologies that use integrated computational materials engineering to develop next-generation materials, manufacturing methods, and new products that benefit from a microgravity environment.

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By integrating models across different scales, from the atomic level to the component level, integrated computational materials engineering can predict the final microstructure and properties of space-manufactured products, and reduce the time and cost of material design and process development.

Proposals should focus on using integrated computational materials engineering to develop next-generation materials and processing methods, improve understanding of mechanisms involved in material transformations, advance fundamental materials discovery, and test processes or manufacturing methods of novel design and synthesis techniques to rapidly help scale and transition these efforts to industrial partners.

Artificial intelligence involves multidisciplinary space hardware design automation us AI techniques to cut hardware iteration cycles from weeks to hours and unlock high-performance designs for new science missions.

Proposers should create an AI-based design automation tool that ingests requirements like natural language, MBSE artifacts, or standard digital files like STEP, creates a design, runs embedded analyses, and returns a verification report -- all via open documented APIs.

Millimeter-wave radar

Radar involves developing low-cost millimeter-wave and centimeter-wave radar for planetary exploration. This kind of affordable radar could support ultra-precise positioning and navigation for planetary exploration spacecraft, and overcome limitations of optical sensors like cameras and lidar.

Radar may be able to overcome environmental obscurants like blown or levitated dust, and perform navigation, 3D terrain mapping, hazard detection, and position estimation.

Proposals should describe how to apply radar to Earth-based autonomy for cars, unmanned vehicles, and unmanned aircraft, as well as to NASA uses like a lunar terrain vehicle, planetary rovers, and flying systems that operate on the moon or Mars.

Robotics involves modular scalable robots for manufacturing and assembly in remote challenging environments. This seeks to overcome the lack of standard, modular subcomponents that enable robotics to scale. Robotic components should have standardized mechanical and electrical interfaces qualified for orbital, lunar, and planetary applications.

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Components should be reconfigurable with non-proprietary standardized interfaces; allow custom components designed by the end user; operate in remote or challenging environments; be optimized for cost-effective mass production; and have the ability to be scaled quickly.

Companies interested should email responses no later than 22 July 2025 to NASA's Kenneth Albright at [email protected] and Steven Brockway at [email protected].

Email questions or concerns to Kenneth Albright at [email protected] and Steven Brockway at [email protected]. More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/e95094c8a1224f90b9f6f6e12173bb68/view.