NLV Upper Stage Development and Flight Testing, Phase I

The technical innovation proposed here is the design during Phase I of a high performance upper stage for a two-stage "20 / 450" Nanosat Launch Vehicle (NLV) that is configured to deliver up to 20 kg to a 450 km low Earth orbit (Figure 1).

Parallel tasks prepare for the Phase II development and sub-orbital flight testing of a prototype vehicle that is directly traceable to the orbital-capable NLV. Furthermore, by teaming with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Space Corporation to pathfind the concept of operations at the latter's Kodiak Space Launch complex, we are taking a key step towards establishing dedicated launch access to polar orbits for the cubesat and nanosat communities.

Data and Resources

Field Value
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • geo
  • geoss
  • national
  • north-america
  • united-states
isopen False
license_id us-pd
license_title us-pd
maintainer TECHPORT SUPPORT
maintainer_email hq-techport@mail.nasa.gov
metadata_created 2025-12-02T04:02:10.981821
metadata_modified 2025-12-02T04:02:10.981825
notes The technical innovation proposed here is the design during Phase I of a high performance upper stage for a two-stage "20 / 450" Nanosat Launch Vehicle (NLV) that is configured to deliver up to 20 kg to a 450 km low Earth orbit (Figure 1). Parallel tasks prepare for the Phase II development and sub-orbital flight testing of a prototype vehicle that is directly traceable to the orbital-capable NLV. Furthermore, by teaming with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Space Corporation to pathfind the concept of operations at the latter's Kodiak Space Launch complex, we are taking a key step towards establishing dedicated launch access to polar orbits for the cubesat and nanosat communities.
num_resources 4
num_tags 8
title NLV Upper Stage Development and Flight Testing, Phase I