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.

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, GA, 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 Space.com,^[12] Forbes,^[13] scientas.nl,^[14] and the Guardian Express.^[15] 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 Nano/Microsatellite (< 50 kg) market and provides custom market assessment to government and commercial customers for all satellite classes.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}
• 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.
• Developed the CoRAL (Cost Research & Analogy Library) database and GUI in Microsoft Excel. CoRAL is used to organize programmatic, performance, and cost data for aerospace systems.
• 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.^[21]

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.^[22]
• 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.^[23]
• 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.^[24],[25]
• Foresight, a small satellite mission concept developed by SEI, won The 2007 Planetary Society 99942 Apophis Mission Design Competition.^[26],[27]
• Designed an asteroid mitigation mission concept referred to as MADMEN, or Modular Asteroid Deflection Mission Ejector Node, for use in planetary defense missions.^[28],[29]
• 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

External links

• SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. (SEI) official website
• Generation Orbit Launch Services, Inc. (GO) official website
• Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA) official website
• Blink Astro, LLC official website
• Projects: Apophis Mission Design Competition (The Winning Mission Proposals) website
• All in a day's work: eat Chinese takeout, save planet Earth
• PROJECT SUMMARY: Modular Asteroid Deflection Mission Ejector Node (MADMEN) website
• Article: Georgia-Led Team Wins Cash for Space Rock Tracking Plan (27 February 2008)
• Article: Competition for Asteroid Hunter Announces Winner (26 February 2008)
• SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI) on YouTube (November 4, 2009)
• Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation
• Robots designed to fight killer asteroids
• U.S. Air Force Plans Reusable Space Booster
• HiFire partners plot hypersonic course
• Reusable Successor To EELV Moving Ahead
• Recycled Military Jets Serve as Satellite Launchers