As the foremost aeronautics and space organization in the world, NASA has amassed an absolutely huge collection of patents over the years. These innovations have been closely guarded by the organization for decades, but just last week, the agency decided to pull an Elon Musk, and release more than 1,200 of its technology patents to the world.
The idea is that providing easier access to the agency’s patents will help foster innovation in the tech sector. “The Startup NASA initiative leverages the results of our cutting-edge research and development so entrepreneurs can take that research — and some risks — to create new products and new services,” explained David Miller, NASA’s chief technologist.
There is one catch to all of this, though. NASA isn’t fully releasing all of its patents. Instead, it’s basically giving tech startups an open invitation to license patented NASA tech with no upfront costs. The agency will waive the initial licensing fees, and there are no minimum fees for the first three years — but once a startup starts selling a product, NASA will collect a standard net royalty fee.
That said, even with royalty costs later on down the road, free and unfettered access to the agency’s patent portfolio could be well worth it to the right startup. NASA’s patents range from materials coatings to sensors, aeronautics technology, instrumentation, and more — so there’s plenty of room for innovation.
The agency has even gone the extra mile and put together a “streamlined, online patent portfolio covering 15 categories and packed with patents protected by the U.S. government.” You can seriously just browse through the patent collection online, and once you’ve pinpointed a desired technology you think you could commercialize, you can get the ball rolling by filling out and submitting application through the website.
Further information on the initiative, as well as application info, can be found on NASA’s dedicated Web page.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.