SpaceWorks Enterprises

SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. (SEI) is an aerospace engineering company based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States that specializes in the design and assessment of advanced space concepts for both government and commercial customers.

SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. (SEI)
TypePrivate
IndustryAerospace
FoundedAtlanta, Georgia
(August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01))
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
Key people
John R. Olds, PhD
CEO and Principal Engineer
John E. Bradford, PhD
President and Chief Technical Officer

Jon Wallace
Chief Operating Officer

Chris Stroumpis
Chief Financial Officer
ProductsAerospace engineering services and software
BrandsSpaceWorks Engineering
SpaceWorks Commercial
SpaceWorks Software]
Number of employees
60+
Subsidiaries Generation Orbit Launch Services, Inc. (GO)
Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA)
Blink Astro, LLC (Blink)
Websitespaceworksenterprises.com

History

SEI was founded in 2000 by Dr. John R. Olds, then a tenured professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA.[1],[2] The firm was previously known as SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. and officially changed its name in 2011.

In 2011, SEI was named the 39th fastest growing Engineering firm in the United States according to the 2011 Inc. 500/5000 list.[3] SpaceWorks received the 2015 Georgia Small Business of the Year Award from the Georgia Chapter of the National Defense Industries Association on February 8th, 2016. [4]

Overview

SpaceWorks Enterprises (SEI), based in Atlanta, Georgia, specializes in independent concept development, economic analysis, technology impact assessment, and systems analyses for future space systems and projects. Along with custom analyses, SEI develops software and apps for the aerospace field. The company has created three subsidiary companies to support various business lines. These include Generation Orbit Launch Services, Inc. (GO), Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA), and Blink Astro,LLC (Blink).

SEI has three primary lines of business: SpaceWorks Engineering, SpaceWorks Commercial, and SpaceWorks Software.

Current Projects
  • Currently analyzing the creation of a torpor inducing transfer habitat for human stasis to Mars.[5][6][7][8][9] This project was originally funded through a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I award.[10][11] The NIAC award was featured in a number of online publications including the Air & Space Smithsonian magazine[12] Space.com,[13] Forbes,[14] scientas.nl,[15] and the Guardian Express.[16] SEI continues to mature this concept and approach to support human exploration.
  • Actively tracks the small satellite industry and provides projections based on the data that is collected. SEI annually publishes these projections for the < 50 kg market and provides custom market assessment to government and commercial customers for all satellite classes.[17][18][19][20][21]
  • Development of the QuickShot trajectory simulation and optimization tool as a modern software package to replace legacy industry tools such as NASA's Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories (POST) and Optimization Through Implicit Simulation (OTIS). The software is sold commercially.
  • Created the Spaceport Field Guide (SpFG), which is a customized Google Map that identifies worldwide launch sites and associated facilities. SpFG is a free resource to the aerospace community. (Please note that SEI has attempted to compile and maintain accurate information, however no assertions are made as to the complete accuracy of this field guide. Users are encouraged to submit suggested updates and corrections to help evolve this resource.
  • Published several original holiday cards on website.
  • Presented a paper titled "Cryogenic Propulsive Stages for Human Exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit" at the 2012 Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2012) in Washington, DC. The paper summarizes the results of a six-month study that SEI performed for United Launch Alliance.
  • Published the results of an internal study of a lunar lander concept to support missions from Earth-Moon L2 to the lunar surface.
  • Founded the FastForward Project, an international study group investigating the commercial market for future high-speed point-to-point flight for passengers and/or cargo.[22]

Educational Outreach

Each summer SEI hosts the ASTRO (Aerospace Summer Training & Research Opportunity) for local area high school students. This is in addition to college internships that are hosted year round. ASTRO is a project-oriented experience during which participants work in teams to solve an aerospace engineering design problem. The teams conduct research and solve complex aerospace engineering challenges created for them by SEI staff. Each team is charged with creating a PowerPoint presentation detailing their research, analysis, and solution to the challenge, a mission patch designed entirely by the team that reflects their work, and a prototype of their solution.

SEI also developed a free interactive Astrodynamics Lab for use by teachers and educators. It is designed for students at both the high school and college level. Upon completion, students should have a basic proficiency and understanding of how gravitational fields influence the orbit of satellites.

Previous Projects
  • Participated on the Artemis Innovative Management Solutions team which worked to mature technologies and concepts for a space-based solar power system known as SPS-ALPHA. NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) sponsored the project.[23]
  • Assisted Satrec Initiative Co., Ltd. (Satrec Initiative or SI) to market their products and services to United States customers through Satrec Initiative-US (SI-US). SpaceWorks represented SI in the U.S. and managed the SI-US initiative until 2012.
  • Supported the Air Force on its RBS and Pathfinder efforts. SEI provided independent aerodynamic, trajectory, and propulsion analysis of competing RBS and Pathfinder approaches and also provided systems engineering and risk management support to AFRL's Chief Engineer for Pathfinder.[24]
  • Provided technical and graphics support to the 2010-2011 NASA-DARPA Horizontal Launch Study team. The HLS study explored near-term air launch concepts capable of launching medium payloads to space.[25],[26]
  • Foresight, a small satellite mission concept developed by SEI, won The 2007 Planetary Society 99942 Apophis Mission Design Competition.[27],[28]
  • Designed an asteroid mitigation mission concept referred to as MADMEN, or Modular Asteroid Deflection Mission Ejector Node, for use in planetary defense missions.[29],[30]
  • Personnel from SEI provided engineering analysis to the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee.
  • Supported NASA's Constellation Program via the Ares Project Office as a member of the Ducommon/Miltec team.
  • Participated on the Orbital Sciences Corporation team for NASA's Concept Exploration and Refinement (CE&R) study.
  • Supported the Northrop Grumman team on the first phase of the hypersonic weapon system development for the DARPA Falcon Project.
  • Participated on the Coleman Research Corp. (now L-3 Coleman Aerospace) team for DARPA's Responsive Access, Small Cargo, Affordable Launch (RASCAL) program.
  • Served as a minor partner of Astrobotic Technology for the Google Lunar X Prize from 2009 to 2010.

References
  1. Dave Smith (2011-07-11). "Inc. 5000 Applicant of the Week: SpaceWorks Enterprises". Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  2. Shawn Jenkins (2008-12-01). "Space for Fun and Profit". Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  3. "SpaceWorks - Atlanta, GA - The Inc.5000". Inc. 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  4. "SEI Receives Georgia Small Business of the Year Award". SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  5. "Sleep the key to keeping space travel cheap?". Fox Business Network. 2014-10-09.
  6. "NASA studying humans rocketing to Mars in a deep sleep". Fox News. 2014-10-08.
  7. "Deep Sleep To Get To Mars: Scientists Consider Putting Astronauts Into Torpor, Or 'Deep Sleep,' When Sent To Mars". Medical Daily. 2014-10-07.
  8. "NASA Is Considering Deep Sleep for Human Mars Mission". Wall Street Journal. 2014-10-08.
  9. "Sleeper spaceship could carry first humans to Mars in hibernation state". CNN. 2014-10-09.
  10. "NIAC 2013 Phase I and Phase II Selections". NASA. 2013-07-19.
  11. John Bradford (2013-07-19). "Torpor Inducing Transfer Habitat For Human Stasis To Mars". NASA.
  12. Emmett, Arielle. "Sleeping Their Way to Mars". Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  13. Mike Wall (2013-08-26). "Incredible Technology: How Astronauts Could Hibernate On Mars Voyage". Space.com.
  14. Michael Venables (2013-10-06). "Space Travel's Efficient, Cheaper Future: Sleeping Your Way to Mars in a Stasis Habitat". Forbes.
  15. Caroline Kraaijvanger (2013-10-12). "Slapend naar Mars: reis naar Mars wordt wellicht haalbaar als we onderweg een winterslaap houden". scientias.nl.
  16. Douglas Cobb (2013-07-20). "NASA Funding Suspended Animation and 11 Other Cool Ideas". Guardian Express.
  17. Doug Messier (2014-02-11). "SpaceWorks Releases 2014 Nano/Microsatellite Market Assessment". Parabolic Arc.
  18. "SpaceWorks Releases 2014 Nano/Microsatellite Market Assessment". SpaceRef. 2014-02-13.
  19. Jeff Foust (2014-08-11). "Small satellites, small launchers, big business?". The Space Review.
  20. "Growing small-satellite market brings pricing, technology challenges". MICROmanufacturing.
  21. Debra Werner (2014-08-08). "Small-satellite Entrepreneurs, Suppliers Part Ways on Pricing". SpaceNews.
  22. Irene Klotz (2009-12-07). "Spaceships may speed consumer air travel". Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  23. "Orbital solar plants could help solve Earth's energy crisis". November 2011.
  24. "USAF seeks reusable booster concepts". April 2010.
  25. "Horizontal Launch: A Versatile Concept for Assured Space Access" (PDF). December 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  26. "Report of the Horizontal Launch Study" (PDF). June 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  27. Paul Rincon (2008-02-26). "US team wins asteroid competition". Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  28. The Planetary Society (2008-02-26). "Projects: Apophis Mission Design CompetitionThe Winning Mission Proposals". Archived from the original on 2008-11-23. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  29. Richard Gray (2007-02-25). "Hollywood got it wrong, this is how you stop an apocalyptic asteroid". Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  30. Brill, Louis; Coledan, Stefano (2004). "Tech Watch: Robots Dig In To Defend Earth". Popular Mechanics (August 2004): 19. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
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