TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: Supersonic Spike Diffuser (SSC-TOPS-10)
NASA · NASA MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.
Where this opportunity stands
Every notice posted under solicitation TP2-SSC-00009 in this department, oldest first.
- Aug 10, 2026 · this noticeSpecial Notice
Next steps for this stage
Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.
- Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
- Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
- Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.
What the notice says
NASA�s Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: Standard cylindrical and second-throat diffusers allow supersonic gas flows to expand within their walls and pull a vacuum on any upstream void. However, the high-Mach-number shock reflections that occur in the center of the plume … (show all)
create substantial losses and result in an inefficient pumping process. Centerbody diffuser designs provide an improvement by reducing the maximum Mach number of the core flow, but also increase the number of oblique shocks in the system by introducing multiple turns into the system. A new type of spike diffuser recently developed by NASA Stennis Space Center is able to provide approximately double the pumping performance of second-throat diffusers via Pareto-efficient reduction of both core Mach number and flow deflection. This enables substantially lower vacuum pressures to be achieved for a given feed pressure/mass flow via the use of higher-expansion-ratio driving nozzles. Spike diffusers are also spatially compact, requiring only ~25% of the length of second-throat designs. To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA�s Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/SSC-TOPS-10 If you have any questions, please e-mail NASA�s Technology Transfer Program at Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this SAM.gov notice and your preferred contact information. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ These responses are provided to members of NASA�s Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.
Who won similar work
171 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same agency (NASA), any industry: a loose match.
Loose match: same agency, any industry. Read the titles before treating these as competitors.
Single-winner award sizes (157): middle half $1.4M to $316.9M, median $14.0M; range $26K to $5.9B.
| Winner | Awards | Value | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amentum Technology, Inc. · $AMTM · $7.9B | 2 | $1.2B | May 20, 2026 |
| ARES TECHNICAL SERVICES CORPORATION | 2 | $739.8M | Aug 7, 2026 |
| SIERRA LOBO INC | 2 | $548.2M | Apr 24, 2026 |
| AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC. | 2 | $87.0M | Aug 20, 2025 |
| SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE San Antonio TX 78238 USA | 2 | $86.4M | Feb 14, 2025 |
| The Regents of the University of Colorado Boulder CO 80309 USA | 2 | $40.3M | Oct 6, 2026 |
| SIERRA SPACE CORP | 2 | $26.3M | Jan 8, 2026 |
| ASCA, INC | 2 | $10.6M | Oct 2, 2026 |
| Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. | 2 | $3.6M | Jul 7, 2025 |
| SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP. | 1 | $5.9B | Sep 18, 2026 |
Value counts single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling; that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's last annual revenue from its 10-K.
- $AMTM reported $7.9B revenue in FY2025. The median single-winner award in these 157 past awards, $14.0M, is 0.2% of that. 10-K
One award's total value against one year of revenue; many awards are paid over several years.
- Oct 13, 2026FEI COMPANY$1.7MThermoFisher Helios 5 CX Purchase
- Oct 8, 2026OMITRON, INC.$23.5MOrbital Safety Analysis Support Services (OSASS) Award
- Oct 6, 2026LINDE INC.$33.1MRequest For Proposal (RFP) NASA Agency-wide Acquisition of Nitrogen and Oxygen 4 (NANO 4)
- Oct 6, 2026The Regents of the University of Colorado Boulder CO 80309 USA$25.3MTotal and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2) Mission Operations and Data Processing
- Oct 2, 2026MODULATE SPACE CORPORATION$38.0MAWARD - 5G System for Lunar Surface Communications Evaluation and Radio Propagation Measurements
- Oct 2, 2026ASCA, INC$10.0MASCA Blanket Purchase Agreement
- Sep 30, 2026SKYMARK REFUELERS LLC$397K3K Dual Compartment/Dual Pumping GSE Refueling Truck
- Sep 24, 2026GLOBAL ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS, INC.$5.6MTropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) Extended Operations Host Contract
- Sep 18, 2026INTERNATIONAL AEROSPACE COATINGS INC$317KAward Notice for Aircraft Painting
- Sep 18, 2026SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP.$5.9BModification to the SpaceX Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities (CCtCap) Contract
Competitive landscape
For the 8 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.
- 2 of these past winners lobbied Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) since 2024 (11 filings)
- 0 of their lobbyists list a past Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) job
- $46K from their corporate PACs since 2024 to members of House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
Policy around it
Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.
- 8 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
- 16 rules from the department in the last 12 months
- 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
Market
For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.
- 1 of the past winners are listed companies
- 0 insider buys and 0 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.
Companies are matched to tickers by exact name only. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.