NASA must have liked the products that VORAGO Technologies, a provider of radiation-hardened and extreme temperature embedded systems technology, presented as the company has been awarded two NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grants by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

VORAGO will design a rad-hard Smallsat / CubeSat Avionics single board controller that has the necessary robustness needed for long duration missions in harsh mission environments. VORAGO will also create a design for a radiation-hardened miniaturized System-In-Package (SIP). The SIP will be optimized for size, weight, power consumption and radiation hardness. 

Semiconductor device operation in extreme radiation is enabled by the use of VORAGO’s HARDSIL® technology. HARDSIL is a process enhancement to standard semiconductor manufacturing that hardens commercially designed devices against the effects of radiation and temperature. HARDSIL can be used to harden semiconductor devices using standard manufacturing equipment with no negative impact on performance or yields. This approach is a highly cost-effective and fast alternative to conventional rad-hard by design (RHBD) techniques, specialized processes, up-screened commercial products, redundant systems, or mechanical screening.

“We are delighted that NASA continues to recognize our unique capability in developing innovative technology for space,” said Bernd Lienhard, chief executive officer of VORAGO Technologies. “HARDSIL technology is a perfect solution to quickly and cost effectively radiation harden semiconductors devices and will enable the success of these important projects.”

Microcontroller and SRAM memory devices based upon VORAGO’s HARDSIL technology are currently in operation on the International Space Station. These devices are used in a science study, sponsored by Air Force Research Laboratory and hosted on the STP-H5 experiment payload by the Air Force Space and Missle System Center Space Test Payload group and NASA.