“NASA希望能與多家公司聯手開拓太空新業務”, NASA Ames中心主管S. Pete Worden在近期發表的一份聲明中表示。“M2mi所擁有的先進技術與我們的目標完全吻合同時又可增強由NASA所研發的技術的商業用途。”

M2mi將依照與NASA簽署的共同調查和研發計劃開展工作,據NASA稱這是其第三類簽署類似協議。雙方將共同開發出重量在11磅到110 磅之間(大約5-50公斤之間)的小型衛星,NASA將在以后發射多顆類似衛星到地球低軌道,形成一個衛星星座。

“由這些小型衛星所形成一個衛星星座將構建成一個用于提供通信、數據存儲和衛星觀測圖片的強大的、以太空為基礎的全球高速網絡 ,”M2mi CEO Geoff Brown在一份聲明中表示。“此次所研發的小型衛星充分利用了微電子領域的最新技術,可低成本進行大規模生產。

這一基于IP服務的通信和網絡系統被定位為支持網絡電話、視頻、數據、無線傳輸的第5代通信系統(5G)。

NASA將組織納米傳感器、無線網絡、 小型衛星技術方面的專家與M2mi合作,而M2mi公司則提供軟件技術、傳感器、全球系統感知、自適應控制和商業化等方面的支持。

NASA太空通信和航空處副行政官Badri Younes在一分聲明中表示,“此次合作將使得未來移動通信系統發生重大變革。”

翻頁查看英文原文:

NASA plans 'nano' satellites to help commercialize space

NASA Ames Research Center plans to work with M2mi Corp. to develop small satellites to power telecommunications and networks in space. The plan to build "nanosats" will help with the commercialization of space, NASA said.

"NASA wants to work with companies to develop a new economy in space," NASA Ames Center director S. Pete Worden said in a news announcement Thursday. "M2mi has great technology that fits excellently with our goals, while enhancing the commercial use of NASA-developed technologies."

The company will work under a cooperative research and development plan, which NASA said is the third such agreement in its history. It will build satellites that weigh between 11 and 110 pounds and create a constellation in low Earth orbit.

"The constellation will provide a robust, global, space-based, high-speed network for communication, data storage, and Earth observations," M2mi CEO Geoff Brown said in a statement. "Nanosatellites take advantage of the significant technological advances in microelectronics and will be produced using low-cost, mass-production techniques."

The telecommunications and networking system for IP-based services is being developed as a fifth-generation system that allows voice over IP, video, data, and wireless transmissions.

NASA will lend its expertise in nanosensors, wireless networks, and nanosatellite technologies, while M2mi will apply its abilities in software technology, sensors, global system awareness, adaptive control, and commercialization.

"This initiative shows great promise in revolutionizing mobile communications critical in meeting future needs," Badri Younes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation, said in a statement.