ROAMER awarded SpaceWERX Orbital Prime Contract

ThermaSat ROAMER has been awarded a Phase 1 STTR under the SpaceWERX Orbital Prime Program

ThermaSat ROAMER has been selected by SpaceWERX for a STTR Phase I in the amount of $241k to investigate how its ROAMER orbital service vehicle might enable In-space Service Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities being explored by the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and United States Space Force (USSF) through the Orbital Prime program.

The ROAMER technology uses ThermaSat propulsion for high thrust operation with minimal power needs. Orbital Prime was created to accelerate the commercial ISAM market toward a use case of Active Debris Remediation. The Air Force Research Laboratory and SpaceWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through a faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and losing bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution.

The DAF began offering ‘The Open Topic’ SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now on 6/28/2022, Howe Industries started its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

Other projects range from debris de-orbiting to a rover for the surface of Mercury (which will be both powered and cooled using ATEG). The company is also investigating the application of their extensive knowhow towards the development of a compact fission-power station for the envisioned lunar base.