NASA has selected 15 visionary ideas for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which develops concepts to transform future missions for the benefit of everyone. The 2025 Phase I award winners, chosen from companies and institutions across the United States, represent a wide range of aerospace concepts.
The NIAC program fosters innovation by funding the study of early-stage technology concepts for future consideration and commercialization potential. Total awards for the 2025 concept will be up to $2.625 million in grants to evaluate technologies that may enable future aerospace missions.
“Our next steps and giant leaps depend on innovation, and the concepts emerging from NIAC will fundamentally change the way we explore deep space, operate in low Earth orbit, and protect our home planet. ,” said Clayton Turner, deputy administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. In Washington. “From developing small robots that can swim in otherworldly oceans to growing space habitats with fungi, this program continues to change possibilities.”
Newly selected concepts include feasibility studies such as investigating the sun’s impact on the solar system, building sustainable lunar habitats with glass, and exploring Saturn’s icy moons. All NIAC research is in the early stages of conceptual development and is not considered an official NASA mission.
Ryan Weed of Helicity Space LLC in Pasadena, California, is proposing a fleet of spacecraft equipped with Helicity Drive, a compact and highly scalable fusion propulsion system. This will enable rapid, multidirectional exploration of the heliosphere and beyond, providing unprecedented insight into how it can be done. The Sun interacts with the solar system and interstellar space. Demonstrating the feasibility of fusion propulsion could also benefit deep space exploration, including manned missions to Mars.
Martin Bermudez of Skyeports LLC in Sacramento, California, presents the concept of building a large-scale lunar glass habitat in a low-gravity environment. The approach, called LUNGS (Lunar Glass Structure), involves melting the moon’s glass compounds to create large spherical shell structures. This idea offers a promising solution for establishing large-scale, self-sustaining habitats on the lunar surface.
Justin Yim of the University of Illinois at Urbana has developed a new robotic sampling concept, aptly named LEAP (Legged Exploration Across the Plume), to explore Saturn’s small icy moon Enceladus, which is covered in geysers or jets. We are proposing a new jumping robot. The LEAP robot could potentially be used to collect pure ocean-derived material directly from Enceladus’ jets, or to measure the properties of particles across multiple jets by moving from jet to jet.
“All progress begins with an idea. The NIAC program allows NASA to innovate and invest in unique ideas that support the nation’s aerospace economy,” said NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program in Washington. Director John Nelson said.
NIAC researchers, known as fellows, examine the basic assumptions of concepts, identify potential challenges, and look for opportunities to realize these concepts.
In addition to the projects listed above, the following recipients received 2025 NIAC Phase I grants:
Michael Hecht, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge: EVE (Exploration of Venus by Electrolysis) Selim Shahriar, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: SUPREME-QG: Cosmic ultra-precision measurements of the equivalence principle of quantum gravity Philip Ansell, University of Illinois In Urbana: Hy2PASS (Hydrogen Hybrid Power for Aviation Sustainable Systems) Ryan Benson, ThinkOrbital Inc., Boulder, Colorado: Construction Assembly Destination Gyula Greschik, Tentguild Engineering Co, Boulder, Colorado: Ribbon: Structure Freesail for Solar Pole Observation Marco Quadrelli, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California: Pulsar: Planetary Pulse Taker Ben Hochman, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California: TOBIAS: Balloon-based Tethered Observatory for Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling Kimberly Weaver, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland: Observing black hole power with accretion exploration interferometry John Mather NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland: An inflatable starshade for terrestrial exoplanets Robert Hinshaw, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley: MitoMars: Boosting deep space endurance Targeted Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy for Christine Gregg, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley: Dynamically Stable Macrostructures with Built Metamaterials Saurabh Vilekar, Precision Combustion, North Haven , CT: Water Thermal Photocatalysis Mars Transport Spacecraft Oxygen Supply for the Crew
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funds the NIAC program because it is responsible for developing new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities for NASA to accomplish current and future missions.
For more information about NIAC, please see below.
https://www.nasa.gov/niac
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jasmine hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
321-432-4624
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
