| Focus Areas: | Physical Sciences, Technology Development |
| Contact: | Mark Shumbera Director of Business Development |
| Phone: | 832-293-3737 |
| Email: | mark.shumbera@alphaspace.com |
| Website: | http://www.AlphaSpace.com |
Alpha Space owns and operates the MISSE platform for external orbital testing of a wide range of technologies including powered electronics, solar cells and materials. With a roughly six-month cadence of launches and experiment returns, customers can rapidly advance the readiness level of their active or passive technology at an affordable price. Flying a new technology on MISSE is easy – the highly experienced Alpha Space team handles every NASA and launch provider interface. Customers focus entirely on their technology.
Primary Services:
Alpha Space offers regular access to space with a launch about every six months and with the experiment hardware returned to customers after flight. Examples of what customers have tested on MISSE include material samples, solar cells, electronic circuit cards, powered systems and even biologics such as algae and seeds. The MISSE testing environment is external to the ISS habitable modules and can consist of exposure to:
- Atomic oxygen
- Radiation- low, high, and solar radiation
- Vacuum of space
- Microgravity
- Extreme temperatures
- Micrometeoroid impacts
- Direct Sun exposure
- Earth viewing capabilities
If direct exposure to the space environment is not needed, then experiments can also fly under the MISSE exposure decks. Alpha Space also offers engineering design and fabrication for customized payloads, as well as space operations and project management.
Standard MISSE services provided by Alpha Space include:
- Payload integration and de-integration
- Contamination protection
- Temperature data
- Solar angle data
- Contamination monitoring
- Orbital parameters
- ISS orientation in its orbit
- Monthly photographs
Additional Services:
In addition to the standard services, MISSE offers capabilities that enable testing of virtually any type of technology. Optional MISSE services include:
- 75W of 28V DC power
- RS-422 data connection
- Solar Cell Test Bed connection (provides current vs. voltage curves)
- UV intensity data
- Atomic oxygen data
- Ionizing radiation data(832) 293-3737 (cell)(832) 293-3737 (cell)
ISS-certified hardware:
- Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) Flight Facility
- MISSE Transfer Trays
- MISSE Sample Carriers
