News – NASA HESTO

Register now: 2025 HELIOTECH and Suborbital Symposium

by Chris Flemingnews June 25, 2025June 25, 2025No Comments

Registration is open for NASA’s joint 2025 HELIOTECH and Suborbital Symposium, hosted in Laurel, Maryland at the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and online via ZoomGov. This FREE week-long event will be held September 8-12, 2025, and includes options for onsite, virtual, and hybrid attendance. Registration closes August 22, 2025. Register here: https://hesto.jhuapl.edu/. …

A New Hybrid System Could Enable Spacecraft Attitude Control Systems to Perform Scientific Measurements

by Steve Christenews June 18, 2025June 23, 2025No Comments

The project of our PI, Dr. Mark Moldwin, was featured as a NASA SMD highlight!

DoD Strategic Technology Office-wide Broad Agency Announcement

by Steve Christefunding opportunity June 5, 2025June 5, 2025No Comments

Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) anticipates funding a limited number of proposals under this solicitation. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice. The Strategic Technology Office (STO) at DARPA …

Quantum sensing for NASA science missions

by Steve Christequantum May 23, 2025May 23, 2025No Comments

NASA develops a broad range of technologies to support space-based quantum sensing and communications, uses the space environment to study fundamental quantum processes to advance our knowledge of physics, and develops algorithms to attack complex science problems that might be solved using quantum computing. A new paper describes quantum sensors that NASA has flown on …

Space Weather Geostationary Photospheric Magnetograph Imager Phase A Study

by Steve ChristeUncategorized May 9, 2025No Comments

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) plans to award a contract for a Phase A study for a PHOtospheric Magnetograph Imager (PHOMI) for upcoming Space Weather Geostationary (SWGEO) program satellites. If awarded, the Government anticipates awarding up to four Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contracts, each valued at approximately $1.5 million with …

DARPA Releases Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) Solicitation

by Steve Christefunding opportunity May 7, 2025May 23, 2025No Comments

A potential funding and flight opportunity for heliophysics technologies. DARPA Releases Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) Solicitation Register for Proposers Day by May 7, 2025 at 1200 ET. In collaboration with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, DARPA recently released the Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) solicitation. LASSO aims to enable a novel mission design …

2024 Annual Heliophysics Technology Report Released!

by Steve Christenews March 5, 2025March 13, 2025No Comments

We are thrilled to present our 2024 Heliophysics Technology Annual Report, showcasing HESTO’s pivotal investments in advancing Heliophysics technology. This report includes the results of our Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science (H-TIDeS) and Heliophysics Flight Opportunities Studies (H-FOS) programs. We are also pleased to introduce the recipients of our 2024 awards, who will …

2024 State-of-the-Art of Small Spacecraft Technology Released

by Steve Christenews February 25, 2025February 27, 2025No Comments

The 2024 NASA State-of-the-Art Small Spacecraft Technology report has been released. This report updates the 2023 report. This new edition features updates for hosted payload services (see Platforms chapter); Orbital Maneuvering/Transport Vehicle services (see Integration, Launch, Deployment, and Orbital Transport chapter); Formation Flying and Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (see Guidance, Navigation, and Control chapter); and passive and …

Advancing Swarm or Distributed Mission Concepts with Starling

by Steve Christenews January 31, 2025February 24, 2025No Comments

The latest Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics points to the need for swarm or constellation missions, and NASA’s Starling mission is leading the way. NASA Starling is a technology demonstration to investigate constellation mission design, including cooperation between elements, or nodes, of a constellation. Funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), Starling …

Events at AGU2024

by Steve Christeevent November 13, 2024No Comments

Some events/panels that may be of interest to our technologists at the Fall AGU 2024 meeting. Look forward to another post where we will list talks at AGU from our PIs.