TA 2 In-Space Propulsion Technologies

NASA’s technology development activities expand the frontiers of knowledge and capabilities in aeronautics, science, and space, creating opportunities, markets, and products for U.S. industry and academia.

In 2010, NASA developed a set of 14 Technology Roadmaps to guide the development of space technologies. The 2015 NASA Technology Roadmaps expand and update the original 2012 roadmaps, providing extensive details about anticipated NASA mission capabilities and associated technology development needs (see roadmap links below). NASA believes sharing the roadmaps with the broader community will increase awareness, generate innovative solutions to provide the capabilities for space exploration and scientific discovery, and inspire others to become involved in America's space program.

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Flowchart of OCT Roadmap STIP and TechPort.

Success in executing NASA’s ambitious aeronautics activities and space missions requires solutions to difficult technical challenges that build on proven capabilities, as well as development of new capabilities. These new capabilities arise from the development of novel cutting-edge technologies.

The promising new technology candidates that will help NASA achieve its extraordinary missions are identified in the 2015 NASA Technology Roadmaps. The roadmaps are a foundational element of the Strategic Technology Investment Plan (STIP), an actionable plan that lays out the strategy for developing technologies essential to the pursuit of NASA’s mission and achievement of National goals. The STIP prioritizes the technology candidates within the roadmaps and provides guiding principles for technology investment. The recommendations provided by the National Research Council heavily influence NASA’s technology prioritization.

NASA’s technology investments are tracked and analyzed in TechPort, a web-based software system that serves as NASA’s integrated technology data source and decision support tool. Together, the roadmaps, the STIP, and TechPort provide NASA the ability to manage the technology portfolio in a new way—aligning mission directorate technology investments to minimize duplication and lower cost, while providing critical capabilities that support missions, commercial industry, and longer-term National needs.

OCT Roadmap Tabs TA1 through TA15.

The 2015 NASA Technology Roadmaps are a set of documents that consider a wide range of needed technology candidates and development pathways for the next 20 years (2015-2035). The roadmaps focus on applied research and development activities. The roadmaps are comprised of an introduction section, which includes a discussion of key crosscutting technologies, and 15 distinct Technology Area (TA) roadmaps. The introduction section highlights some of the technology candidates that are encompassed in more than one technology area. It also includes an index of technology candidates that may enable or enhance individual planned missions and conceptual Design Reference Missions (DRMs). Technologies that support NASA’s missions may also support science and exploration missions conducted by the commercial space industry and other government agencies. In addition, NASA technology development results in applications for the general population including devices that improve health, medicine, transportation, public safety, and consumer goods.

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