FutureTech is a premier business and technology conference, bringing together representatives from the Ross School of Business, the College of Engineering, the School of Information, and major corporations from around the world. It is one of the largest conferences at the business school and provides a forum for top talent and industry leaders to discuss the intersection of business and technology. The topic of this year’s conference is: “Innovations Worth Sharing.”
One man I believe has innovations worth sharing is Jon Goff, which is why I'm glad SEDS@UM is able to bring him to the University. Goff was one of the founding members of Masten Space Systems, winner of NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge and Masten’s lead propulsion engineer. Now he is starting his own aerospace company, Altius Space Machines, to close many of the gaps impeding space commercialization. Goff is focusing on the rapid prototyping of new and enabling technologies for reusable launch vehicles (RLV) such as Masten’s Xogdor or Armadillo’s SuperMod. This means pursuing a wide range of product lines including nanosatellites launchers with reusable first stages, upper stages for suborbital RLVs, micro reentry vehicles, and low-maintenance thermal protection systems.
Altius Space Machines has recently signed a contract with United Launch Alliance to aid in the development of the Integrated Vehicle Fluids (IVF) system for the Centaur and Delta Second Stage. The IVF module has the potential to eliminate the need for hydrazine and helium thrusters by using the remaining LOX and LH2 in the main propellant tanks. In addition to reducing launch costs, this exciting technology is seen as a major stepping-stone towards orbital fuel depots. This announcement is following an earlier contract to develop, integrate, and flight test an avionics box and GN&C solution for a DARPA-funded project to test small-scale propulsion technologies suitable to guide the upper stage of a nanosat launcher to orbit.
Read more:
Jon Goff at Selenian Boondocks
FuturTech at U-M Ross School of Business
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