The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $100,000 - Tuesday the 9th of April 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG ADELPHI
  PERFORMANCE OF WORK IN ACCORDANCE WITH

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• $74,991 - Monday the 20th of April 2015
  Missile Defense Agency
  MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY (MDA)
  IGF::OT::IGF SBIR PHASE II TRANSITION RESEARCH&DEV

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• $50,000 - Monday the 13th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN THIS PROJECT, ULTRAMET IS DESIGNING AND FABRICATING A LIGHTWEIGHT, HIGH TEMPERATURE COMBUSTION CHAMBER FOR USE WITH CRYOGENIC LIQUID OXYGEN/METHANE (LOX/CH4) PROPELLANT THAT WILL DELIVER A SPECIFIC IMPULSE OF ~355 SECONDS, AN INCREASE OVER THE CURRENT 320-SEC BASELINE THAT WILL RESULT IN A PROPELLANT MASS DECREASE OF 55 LBM. THE MATERIAL SYSTEM IS BASED ON ULTRAMET'S PROVEN OXIDE-IRIDIUM/RHENIUM ARCHITECTURE, WHICH HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY HOT-FIRE TESTED WITH STOICHIOMETRIC OXYGEN/HYDROGEN FOR HOURS. INSTEAD OF RHENIUM, HOWEVER, THE STRUCTURAL MATERIAL WILL BE A NIOBIUM OR TANTALUM ALLOY THAT HAS EXCELLENT YIELD STRENGTH AT BOTH AMBIENT AND ELEVATED TEMPERATURE. PHASE I DEMONSTRATED ALLOYS WITH YIELD STRENGTH-TO-WEIGHT RATIOS MORE THAN THREE TIMES THAT OF RHENIUM, WHICH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE CHAMBER WEIGHT. THE STARTING MATERIALS ARE ALSO TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LESS EXPENSIVE THAN RHENIUM AND ARE LESS EXPENSIVE THAN THE C103 NIOBIUM ALLOY COMMONLY USED IN LOW-PERFORMANCE ENGINES. PHASE II WILL FOCUS ON THE DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND HOT-FIRE TESTING OF A SMALL (5-25 LBF THRUST CLASS) CHAMBER WITH LOX/CH4, AND WILL CULMINATE IN THE DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A 100-LBF CHAMBER THAT CAN BE MATED AND TESTED WITH AN EXISTING LOX/CH4 INJECTOR. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, ULTRAMET WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH AEROJET, WHICH WILL PERFORM THE HOT-FIRE TESTING.

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• $50,000 - Wednesday the 15th of August 2012
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-PICA
  PH I SBIR OPTION FOR PROPOSAL: NOVEL GRAPHITE FOAM FOR HIGH HEAT FLUX MMIC COOLING

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• $419,228 - Friday the 28th of October 2011
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9300 AFTC PZR
  INCREMENTAL FUNDING MODIFICATION FOR FA9300-10-C-3001

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• $375,000 - Monday the 30th of July 2012
  Department Of Air Force
  FA9300 AFTC PZR
  SBIR PHASE II - MODELING&EMPIRICIZING THE DECOMPOSITION OF HAN-BASED MONOPROPELLANT&ASSOCIATED CATALYSTS

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• $325,000 - Wednesday the 2nd of April 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  CURRENT CRYOGENIC INSULATION MATERIALS SUFFER FROM VARIOUS DRAWBACKS INCLUDING HIGH COST AND WEIGHT, LACK OF STRUCTURAL OR LOAD-BEARING CAPABILITY, FABRICATION COMPLEXITY, AND PROPERTY ANISOTROPY. A NEED CLEARLY EXISTS FOR LIGHTWEIGHT THERMAL INSULATION THAT IS ISOTROPIC AND STRUCTURALLY CAPABLE WITH HIGH THERMAL PERFORMANCE, WHILE ALSO OFFERING REDUCED FABRICATION AND INSTALLATION COMPLEXITY AND LOWER COST. IN PREVIOUS WORK FOR NASA AND DOD INVOLVING LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURAL INSULATION FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE ENGINE AND AIRFRAME APPLICATIONS, ULTRAMET DEVELOPED AND DEMONSTRATED LIGHTWEIGHT OPEN-CELL FOAM INSULATORS COMPOSED OF A CARBON OR CERAMIC STRUCTURAL FOAM SKELETON FILLED WITH A LOW-COST, NANOSCALE AEROGEL INSULATOR. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS TO ADAPT AND OPTIMIZE AEROGEL-FILLED STRUCTURAL FOAM FOR THE CRYOGENIC INSULATION APPLICATION, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE THERMAL AND MECHANICAL BENEFITS OF EACH COMPONENT WHILE OFFERING LOW COST AND MANUFACTURABILITY IN COMPLEX SHAPES. IN PHASE I, THE FEASIBILITY OF FABRICATING AEROGEL-FILLED OPEN-CELL FOAM FOR CRYOGENIC APPLICATION WAS DEMONSTRATED, INITIAL THERMAL PERFORMANCE WAS ESTABLISHED, AND A PATH FOR CONTINUED MATERIAL AND STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION WAS DEVELOPED THROUGH DESIGN AND MODELING. IN PHASE II, ULTRAMET WILL AGAIN TEAM WITH OCELLUS, A LEADER IN LOW-COST AEROGEL FABRICATION, AND MATERIALS RESEARCH AND DESIGN FOR DESIGN AND ANALYSIS SUPPORT. THERMAL PERFORMANCE WILL BE CHARACTERIZED AT THE CRYOGENICS TEST LABORATORY AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER.

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• $311,009 - Tuesday the 13th of December 2011
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG ADELPHI
  ULTRANET MAGNET WIRE INSULATION

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• $200,000 - Monday the 13th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN THIS PROJECT, ULTRAMET IS DESIGNING AND FABRICATING A LIGHTWEIGHT, HIGH TEMPERATURE COMBUSTION CHAMBER FOR USE WITH CRYOGENIC LIQUID OXYGEN/METHANE (LOX/CH4) PROPELLANT THAT WILL DELIVER A SPECIFIC IMPULSE OF ~355 SECONDS, AN INCREASE OVER THE CURRENT 320-SEC BASELINE THAT WILL RESULT IN A PROPELLANT MASS DECREASE OF 55 LBM. THE MATERIAL SYSTEM IS BASED ON ULTRAMET'S PROVEN OXIDE-IRIDIUM/RHENIUM ARCHITECTURE, WHICH HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY HOT-FIRE TESTED WITH STOICHIOMETRIC OXYGEN/HYDROGEN FOR HOURS. INSTEAD OF RHENIUM, HOWEVER, THE STRUCTURAL MATERIAL WILL BE A NIOBIUM OR TANTALUM ALLOY THAT HAS EXCELLENT YIELD STRENGTH AT BOTH AMBIENT AND ELEVATED TEMPERATURE. PHASE I DEMONSTRATED ALLOYS WITH YIELD STRENGTH-TO-WEIGHT RATIOS MORE THAN THREE TIMES THAT OF RHENIUM, WHICH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE CHAMBER WEIGHT. THE STARTING MATERIALS ARE ALSO TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LESS EXPENSIVE THAN RHENIUM AND ARE LESS EXPENSIVE THAN THE C103 NIOBIUM ALLOY COMMONLY USED IN LOW-PERFORMANCE ENGINES. PHASE II WILL FOCUS ON THE DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND HOT-FIRE TESTING OF A SMALL (5-25 LBF THRUST CLASS) CHAMBER WITH LOX/CH4, AND WILL CULMINATE IN THE DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A 100-LBF CHAMBER THAT CAN BE MATED AND TESTED WITH AN EXISTING LOX/CH4 INJECTOR. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, ULTRAMET WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH AEROJET, WHICH WILL PERFORM THE HOT-FIRE TESTING.

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• $125,000 - Monday the 26th of November 2012
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  LOW-COST ACCESS TO SPACE DEMANDS DURABLE, COST-EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT, AND LOW-WEIGHT PROPULSION SYSTEMS. KEY COMPONENTS INCLUDE ROCKET ENGINE NOZZLES AND NOZZLE EXTENSIONS FOR BOOST AND UPPER STAGES. OPTIONS FOR SUCH NOZZLES INCLUDE ACTIVELY COOLED ALLOYS, ABLATIVES, AND RADIATION-COOLED COMPOSITES AND METALS, EACH OF WHICH HAS KNOWN LIMITATIONS. ACTIVELY COOLED STRUCTURES ARE COMPLEX AND COSTLY. ABLATIVES ARE HEAVY AND LIMIT PERFORMANCE DUE TO SHAPE INSTABILITY. RADIATION-COOLED COMPOSITES ARE COSTLY, HAVE A LIMITED PRODUCTION BASE, AND ARE SIZE-LIMITED. RADIATION-COOLED METALS FACE LOW TEMPERATURE LIMITS, REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT MACHINING FOR ACCEPTABLE WEIGHT, AND REQUIRE PROTECTIVE COATINGS. THESE LIMITATIONS ARE HIGHLIGHTED BY THE J-2X NOZZLE EXTENSION, WHICH USES A HIGHLY MACHINED METALLIC STRUCTURE TO MINIMIZE WEIGHT AND REQUIRES AN EMISSIVITY COATING TO MAINTAIN SAFE OPERATING TEMPERATURE. CARBON/CARBON (C/C) PROVIDES AN ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE, BUT HAS JOINING ABILITY, OXIDATION RESISTANCE, AND MANUFACTURABILITY LIMITATIONS. ULTRAMET PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED AND DEMONSTRATED CARBON FIBER-REINFORCED REFRACTORY CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITES (CMC) FOR LIQUID PROPELLANT APPLICATIONS UP TO 4300?F. ULTRAMET HAS ALSO DEMONSTRATED THE INTEGRATION OF LIGHTWEIGHT C/C WITH CMCS IN A UNIQUE SYSTEM COMPRISING A C/C PRIMARY STRUCTURE WITH AN INTEGRAL CMC LINER OR JACKET. THIS SYSTEM BRIDGES THE WEIGHT AND PERFORMANCE GAP BETWEEN C/C AND CMCS. THE CMC PROVIDES ENHANCED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESISTANCE WHILE THE C/C PROVIDES A LIGHTWEIGHT AND COST-EFFECTIVE STRUCTURE. IN THIS PROJECT, THE FEASIBILITY AND BENEFITS OF APPLYING THIS INTEGRATED MATERIAL SYSTEM FOR LARGE LIQUID ROCKET ENGINE NOZZLES WILL BE VALIDATED. SUBSEQUENT WORK WILL ADDRESS SCALEUP AND WILL INCLUDE A C/C PRODUCER. THE FULLY DEVELOPED SYSTEM WILL COMBINE THE LOW WEIGHT AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF C/C WITH THE STRENGTH AND DURABILITY OF CMCS TO SUPPORT A RANGE OF POTENTIAL NASA MISSIONS.

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